Sweet Families
by CandleHeadButt
Summary: The Sugar Rush racers have restored their memories and all those tales are flooding back! Just how NUTS and SWEET were the families of Sugar Rush. In these tales you will see what went on beyond the games and backstories and perhaps learn a little more about the arcade's sweetest racers.
1. An Introduction

An introduction

The families of Sugar Rush come in many varieties.

You have the Royal family, the Von Schweetz, Milka and Tobias-Lerone with their little daughter Vanellope. They rule over the entire kingdom, making sure that everyone is safe and sound.

Vanellope has all she wants but does she have friends?

Then you have the Flubutters. The elder Reese works as a page to their majesties while how former wife travels the globe but both love their son Rancis.

Rancis loves his reflection.

Up in the northern section of the kingdom is a small village, ruled over by Bomba Winterpop who lives with her nieces Adorabeezle and Nougetsia.

They need to get out a bit more….all three of them.

In the middle of the village is a little café owned by Meiji Hanabi and his wife Castalla, the darling little place named after their child Candlehead.

Candlhead….is CANDLEHEAD.

Next door live the Muttonfudges in their dance studio, Berlingots playing piano while his wife Malva dances, their daughter Taffyta looking on.

She has both their sass…..perhaps a bit TOO much.

Near the royal palace live the Bing-Bings who keep the gardens nice and neat. Ah is the father while Muffy-Soufflé is his loving wife, together with their twins Jubileena and Citrusella.

Their eyes will forever stare at you.

Sugar Rush is also the home of one of the world's most famous actors Dango Yokan and his fashion designer wife Hanami, little Sakura joining them.

She can act, she can design clothes but a ham this child is.

In the country near the edge of the kingdom's border is where Hanami's younger sister Konipetio lives with her husband Gashi Zaki and their triplets, Minty, Sticky and Torvald.

Sweet girls, but once they're in a room together havoc is all that will result.

A large mansion is where the Di Carmellos live, Tiramisuzette along with her husband Zabaione and their daughter Crumbelina.

She takes after them both, with her hard caramel glare and cookie-crumbling presence.

The most musical of the land is that of the Rainbaus, Berry playing on his guitar while Sundae-Sonata sings, Snowanna joining in for the fun.

You haven't had fun until she's dragged you off to a concert.

Anyone who knows anything about racing and karts know that Malarkey Automotive is where to go, the proprietor of the place Chupa Malarkey with Swizzle tagging along.

He wants to create as much as his famous parents, making them both proud.

And finally, flying through the skies and traveling the world we have the Orangeboars, Blanc making sure the cart is kept up, Kobacha at the steering wheel as they teaching their son Gloyd how to be the best trickster in the world.

He has picked up a few….CHOICE habits from both.

These are the families in Sugar Rush and you'll see everyone. Though they may not seem like friends and first, one things binds them together and it is this thing that will keep Sugar Rush strong.


	2. Taffyta and the Sweet Shave P1

Taffyta and the Sweet Shave- Part One

The air was warm and sweet when Taffyta awoke, another beautiful Saturday morning awaiting her.

" _Mmm, morning already?"_ she yawned, knowing that a second could not be wasted. She pulled back her covers and stretched out her legs, tiny toes wagging in the air. She pushed herself up and out of the bed, landing gracefully on her feet with arms stretched to her side.

One two, one two.

This was the FIRST of the morning rituals for the girl.

One legs stretched in the air; reaching, reaching, reachiiiiing! Stretching like taffy her limbs did but the left leg went down to rest, switching places with the right. Then came the splits, the strawberry girl gracefully moving about as if she were as light as a feather, a graceful as a butterfly.

She was a Muttonfudge. They were known for their moves.

 _Among other things of course…._

"Taffyta!"

The soft call of a woman's voice rang from down stairs, Taffyta looking towards her door.

"Yes, mama?"

"Breakfast is ready! You wouldn't want it to get cold, would you?"

Not a chance, especially when she smelled that it was her favorite; butter-milk griddle cakes with PLENTY of strawberries and cream.

She was a Muttonfudge. They were KNOWN for their LOVE of strawberries.

Moving about with the same amount of grace she had displayed while getting ready, Taffyta got herself dressed for the day.

Favorite dress, favorite stockings, favorite shoes!

All pink, all glorious, all Taffyta.

"Hehe, **TOOT** sweet!" she said to herself, imaging the comment should a certain someone had heard her misuse the language in such a manner. She dashed off, rushing down the stairs and towards the kitchen but something hit her ears.

Piano music.

Lovely piano music.

The girl stopped in her tracks, smiling brightly as she reversed, looking into the doorway of the large dance studio.

"Daaaa-DY?"

A man was at the large grand piano, his little fingers tinkling away, the look on his face a sign of the bliss he was in as he continued to play. Taffyta loved to hear her father play, the music he could perform always the thing to lift her out of a bad mood. She envied him, wishing she possessed the same talents as the man but even if she could not play as well as him, she could listen.

And enjoy.

"Taffyta?"

"Yes, daddy?" the girl smiled, her father not missing a beat as he continued to stroke the keys.

"What did your mama say? You were going to be late for breakfast?"

"But I want to hear you play…." The girl said, moving closer and sitting on the bench next to her father. He looked down, the girl able to see she smile forming in his chubby cheeks even if his mouth was hidden by his mustache.

"You do?"

Taffyta only nodded and hit a few random keys "I want to play too. But I'm not as good as you."

"Nonsense…." The little man laughed, his voice surprisingly deep for someone his size "Just follow my lead."

The plump strawberry man began with a few keys; one two three, one two three…

"And now you follow."

His daughter echoed his movements; one two three, one two three.

"There's a good start…."

He began to pick up the pace, Taffyta trying her best to follow. She hit a few sour notes here and there but she was determined to keep up, to play as well as her father.

One two three, bad. One two, bad. One two three, bad.

Keep trying, keep trying!

"Excuse me you two…."

Candy father and daughter looked up, seeing a large figure standing before them in front of the entrance to the studio.

"Malva."

The one called Malva smiled, pushing a large lock of her massive pink curls out of her face "Don't give me that look, Berlingots. You're breakfast is getting cold."

The man smiled cockily towards the large woman, tinkering the ivory playfully "You know my daily routine. Every morning, get up and play! It is what keeps my mind sharp as well as my wit!"

"Oh, is that so?" Malva teased "You also seem to use it as an excuse to get out of your daily exercises with me and Taffyta."

Being as big as she was, Malva had to stoop down considerable to se her husband eye to eye but she playfully bumped her nose against his, patting his plump belly.

"Hmmmm, wonder why."

Berlingots blushed, his already rosy cheeks going redder "Come, come darling! As much as I love to participate, I was not blessed with such moves as YOU!"

"I think that can be fixed." Malva grinned devilishly "All we have to do is cut back a few of your sweet intake and I'm CERTAIN you'd be able to reach your toes!"

Malva laughed tartly, Berlingots' eyeing her in annoyance.

"BABE?"

"Yes, dear?"

The little man crackled his knuckles loudly "I just came up with a song. Jursht fer chu!"

"Oh, you did?"

The man closed his eyes gracefully, fingers twiddling in the air….

And then he SLAMMED his hands on the keys.

 _MALVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_  
 _WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME?!_

Malva's eyes narrowed; she knew EXACTLY where this was heading.

 _WITH YOUR LEGS SO LONG AND YOUR THIGHS SO BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG!_

 _WHY MUST YOU BE SO CRUEL TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!_

"That didn't even rhyme…."

 _WE FELL IN LOVE AT THE CIRCUS ALL THOSE YEARS AGO!_

 _YOU FELL OUTTA THA STANDS AN' LANDED ON MEEEEEEE!_

"Every line of this song ends with ME."

 _No it doesn't._

 _I THOUGHT YA LOVED ME!_

 _BUT YA JUST WANTED TO TOY WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEE-AAAAAAAAAAAH!_

Taffyta had turned to a wall, shaking as she held back her laughter.

 _OH MAH GAWD MALVA! YOU'RE SO BIG N MEAN TO ME!_

 _JUST LIKE EVERYONE IN YOUR FAMILY!_

 _SINCE THEY HATE MY GUTS AND WOULD PROBABLY LIKE TO SEE ME HIT BY A CAR!_

 _Cept your brother cuz he's cool like that-_

 _BUT NOT YOUR SISTER WHO IS ON THAT SHOW WITH THE PUPPETS YOU HATE SO MUCH!_

 _WHY MUST YOU BE SO MEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN?!_

"BERNIE."

The song only continued, Bernie howling by now, a few dogs outside joining him.

 _Bwaooooo! BRWOOOOO!_

"...I'm giving you three seconds to stop."

 _OOOOOH OOOOOOOOOOOOOH OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!_

 _TA-TA-TA-TA-TAFFYTA!_

 _ASK YO MAMA WHY SHE'S MEAN!_

"Mom, why are you so mean?"

"GUYS!"

 _TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TAFFYTA! YO MAMA HATES MY GUTS!_

 _TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TAFFYTA! GET YO MAMA TO GIVE ME PANCAKES BECAUSE SHE HAS A MASSIVE BU-!_

"Okay, okay, OKAY!" Malva said, pulling Bernie by the back of his collar and throwing him in the kitchen "Dear LORD, you're going to get us evicted for noise violations!"

 _ ***BOOM BOOM BOOM!***_

The family looked down, the sounds of someone below them punching the ceiling.

" _Hey, Malva tell Bernie to shut the heck up up there!"_

Malva slammed her foot on the ground a few times "Meiji, I-"

"Oh, is my music dis-TUUUUUUUUUUUUURBIN' ya, Meiji!?" Bernie said, the man now TAP-DANCING as hard as he could "Is this better?! CAN YA HEAR ME DOWN THERE, MON AMI?!

" _ **SHUT UP THE HECK UP THERE, GOB DANG IT!"**_

Yup, a typical morning for the Muttonfudges!

Finally, the three got to the breakfast table but the laughter did not end. Malva tried her best to reminded the strawberry man to behave but he always had a counter with something sharp and perhaps a little risqué, Malva eventually giving up once Bernie had even made her laugh.

"Just…WHY?" the woman snorted, her head lower "WWWWWWHHHY?"

"I don't know…." The little man smiled, taking another bite of wonderful pancakes "Someone has to keep order around this place, do you not think so love?"

"Order?!" retorted Malva, glaring down upon her tiny husband "It is _**I**_ who always has to drag your rolly-polly cream-puff butt out of trouble! Remember what happened YESTERDAY?"

Berlingots sniggered, biting into a strawberry "You mean with Dango and the those sea BAN-AN-ERS?"

"And the day before that?"

"You mean with Meiji and the cream pies?"

"And-!"

"Malva…."

The woman refused to look, huffing and puffing but Bernie leaned forwards. Taffyta just sat there, her eyes narrowed as she gave a cat-like grin towards her mother.

They were BOTH teaming up against her.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-hooooooo…." Sang the man, his brows waggling "HO HO HO HO HOOOOOO."

"You have the face of someone who is just begging to be thrown through a window…."

"How many times have I sailed through a window, by EVERYONE including you?"

"I counted around five-hundred and ninety three times in the last three years." Taffyta chirped, mimicking the catty look her father was giving her mother.

"See, at least got the girl interested in math."

"I'm chaining you in a box, Berlingots."

This was her family and Taffyta wouldn't have had it any other way.

Once things were in order, the family finally went out for their weekend walk. It was a bit odd seeing Taffyta stroll between her parents, her father so small her mother so big but she didn't care. So long as her father was around, poking fun at everything that appeared around him, she wouldn't have changed a thing.

It felt good to laugh.

It just felt so good with so many other things to worry about.

"Strawberries, strawberries!" the man said, suddenly going off into a long line of French "Malva, we must not forget the strawberries!"

"Why? We have one giant one right here." Malva tittered as she picked her husband up again "One REALLY big one."

"Oh ha ha ha, PINKY." The man huffed "But if we are to get the best from the Bing-Bing's we must hurry, you know how everyone rushes to see-!"

"Hurry?"

The trio of strawberry characters stopped, feeling a voice calling out to them.

"Ooooh, why must you go so soon BERLINGOTS?" chuckled a deep, teasing tone. Eyes then went to a carriage set up in the middle of the square, many candy people surrounding the vehicle as a tall lanky figure stepped out, his ivy-green hair combed back neatly and a twinkle in his eye.

"Blanc!" Malva smiled, rushing over and nearly trampling Berlingots in the process. She hugged the man, lifting him off the ground with ease "Oh, you have been gone for WEEKS! I was starting to get worried that you wouldn't come back!"

Once he had been placed back on the ground, Blanc wiped his vest of any specs, smiling once more.

"Oh, Malva. While it is true that our family does travel around our hearts will always be in this fine kingdom."

"Aw, can it dad." Griped a voice from inside.

"Hello, Pumpkin-Head." Taffyta smirked, the boy returning her greeting with a roll of the eyes.

"'Lo, Taffy-Butt."

"Gloyd, now, now…" said Blanc, the harshness very clear in his voice "We must not misbehave in front of our audience! They came here for a show."

"A show, eh?" puffed Berlingots, his mustache parting to actually show forth his gleaming teeth "I am waiting to be impressed. I mean, after all the years I spent in tha show, many of your tricks are old hat, mon ami."

"My dear, dear BERNIE." The taller man retorted, patting Bernie on his head hard "I know you and I share a fondness and lengthy career dealing with magic and illusion."

Blanc pulled Berni closer, his eyes darkening.

" _But which one of us_ _ **WASN'T**_ _convicted of treason, HMM?"_

" _You son of a bi-"_

"BISCUIT HEAD!"

Blanc turned, his sharply dressed wife appearing on the stage "Koko!"

"All this yackin', not enough actin'!" the woman said, Gloyd standing near her as if to agree "When you're done releasing tension on Bernie, can we finally pull off a trick?"

With a grin, Kobacha reached down the middle of her dress, pulling out a MASSIVE RUNNING CHAINSAW out of nowhere. Of course, the crowd nearly fell over, the little woman swinging the thing uncomfortable close towards them.

"Mwahaha! Maybe I should put on the show!"

"Koko, NO!" Blanc said, stamping his foot on the ground "We talked about this before! NO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF DISMEMBERMENT! It's not good for-!"

"Oh, wait" cried Gloyd, reaching up his sleeve only to make several long strings of pumpkin-bombs appear "Ya mean like this mama?"

"Atta boy!"

"KOBACHA! GLOYD!" Blanc growled, leaping into the stage and shoving the items into a top hat, the thing letting out a muffled BOOM a second later "Are you two THAT thirst for ACTION?"

The two other Orangeboar members looked at the patriarch, crossing their arms and pouting.

"YES."

The tall man sighed, shaking his head "Fine, we shall do something 'BIG' if it will satisfy your lust for destruction…."

An evil glint then appeared in the man's eyes as he turned towards Berlingots.

"And I have JUST the thing!"

"WHAT?"

Blanc twirled on the stage, throwing out an arm as a rope of rainbow colored handkerchiefs reached out and wrapped themselves around the chubby strawberry man!

" _ **NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"**_

"We have here, one PERFECT subject." Blanc smiled, Bernie still spinning like a top as he was tossed on the stage. The tall man took him by the cheeks, squishing them out ridiculously "Hmmm, perfect as its going to get in this case. If you ask me, he seems a bit over baked in the middle and sawed off at the height."

" _ **HEY, HEY, HEEEEEEEY!"**_

"Koko, get me the box."

Berlingots flinched "….WHAT BOX?"

Before anymore could he said, Kobacha lifted the man up and SHOVED him haphazardly into the awaiting chest, the crowd looking on in awe. As much as she loved magic, Taffyta was starting to grow more and more worried. Bernie had never seemed so uncomfortable, even with all the things so many of the other citizens had done to him PHYSICALLY.

"U-uh, mom….Is papa going to be okay?"

Malva, not at all worried, looked at her watch "Give them three minuets."

"I swear, let me out of here!" Bernie shouted from inside the chest "Oh god, they used to do this to me back in the circus!"

"Call it nostalgia then, buddy!" said Blanc the only response being a long string of jumbled French swear words "Gloyd?"

"Yeah?" the boy smiled.

"Give me the chainsaw?"

"The one mom pulled out of her brassier?"

"NO."

"Then lemme give ya one'a mine!" the boy said as he reached into his hat and pulled out a chainsaw, the audience gasping in shock.

The Orangeboars were masters of magic but this was RIDICULOUS!

Blanc began running the rusty blades through the chest, the sound enough to make ones toes curl but the deeper he got….

 _ ***SCRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!***_

Blood.

So much blood.

A near GEYSER of red ERUPTED from the box, the candy people below SCREAMING as they were covered!

"DADDY!" Taffyta shrieked but Malva still didn't move.

"We enables these people too much."

Kobacha and Gloyd just looked on, their devilish smiles bearing down on the box as the leader of the trio finally cut all the way through.

"KOKOOOOOOOOOOO!" growled Blanc, the woman smiled as she shrugged her shoulders "WHAT DID I TELL YOU-?!"

"But it's fun!"

"What's fun?!" cried Taffyta "YOU CUT MY DADDY IN HALF!"

"Oh, oops." Laughed Gloyd "Sorry"

"SORRY?! SORRY!?" shouted Taffyta as she hopped on staged and tackled Gloyd on the ground "GAAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU PUMPKIN-FART! I'M GONNA-!"

"Auuurgh, get me down…."

The girl looked up, seeing Berlingots hanging by his ankles above the stage, the man swinging limply with his arms up.

"Ah, I guess that's where we put him!"

How….in the Sugar Rush world?

"Daddy!" Taffyta beamed "You're okay!"

"Blanc, get me down from this thing!" Bernie cried, flailing his chubby arms "Urgh, I'm gonna get hiccups hanging like this!"

"Isn't that usually a cure?" Gloyd mocked, smiling teasingly towards Taffyta, the girl growling.

"And there you see folks!" finished Kobacha "Sometimes it's best to look twice before you consider the WORST."

"Well…" Blanc said, cutting the rope and sending Berlingots dropping to the ground "Maybe not in the case of Bernie. I've known this man for nearly fifteen years. I think he's had enough chances.

" _ **BITE ME, BLANC."**_

"Okay, you basically used my husband as a magic meat-bag…." Smirked Malva "Can I have him back please?"

"Oh, of course." Kobacha smiled warmly, smushing her cheeks together "Hehe, go home an' comfort tha lil berry. Smush those pouty cheeks of his!"

Bernie was bright red, his little form puffed in his pout "Aw, c'mon! All I wanted was to get some strawberries! Not go through of all this!"

"Ya mean, THESE strawberries?" Gloyd smiled, removing his hat before removing a large crate of berries and handing them to the astonished man "Here you go MON-SEWER Muttonfudge! A lil somethin' for your troubles!"

"Dear…."

Bernie peered down, Malva smiling and tapping her nose.

"Auuuuuurgh…." The little man griped but he knew he couldn't win this "Dooooh….."

He gave a little bow, the berries clutched in his hands.

"Merci, young man….merci."

"Heh, same ta ya."

"See, Blanc?" Kobacha cooed "An' you were worried 'bout things getting' outta hand!"

Blanc sniffed, rubbing his hands of the fake blood. How he hated the stuff but his darling wife swore it was the very thing the show needed in order to feel more 'real'.

"Urgh, how many gallons did you put in that box? HONESTLY?"

"Why, was five too much?"

"KOKO."

"What?" the woman said "Or were tha chainsaws too much?"

"KOBACHA!" Blanc shouted "We can discuss this la-!"

And then…

IT HAPPENED.

It was the stage blood; blame that for what happened as when Blanc walked forward, his feet was caught in a puddle of the slippery stuff, the man falling forward.

"AH, BLANC!" Kobacha cried as she rushed forward to catch her husband, the man landing HEAVILY against her "GAH!"

Because of the tumble some of the props from the act began to fly around as they were knocked around, the tiny candy people crying out as not to get hit!

"WATCH OUT!" Bernie called, seeing one of the 'fake' blades coming down.

He jumped, pulling a little chocolate drop out of the way just as he FELT the blade go across his face, landing hard on the ground.

"Oh, goodness! DEAR!" cried Malva as she rushed over to the scene, Taffyta following her "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine…." The little man gasped "Guess I should be thankful I roll so-!"

"OH MY GOBS!"

Bernie looked forward, Taffyta staring at him intensly.

"Taffyta?!" the man said "What?! WHAT IS IT?! Did-?!"

Taffyta's mouth began to twitch, the edges looking as if they were….

Smiling?

"Taffyta?"

The girl's face went pink, her eyes rolled back and then….

 _ **PFFFFFFFFFFFFTHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!**_

"…W-What?" the little man asked in confusion, only to look at his wife, Malva covering her mouth in HORROR, the Orangeboars looking at him with dropped jaws.

Even the candy people were silent, the only sound around being that of his own daughter who was still laughing as if she could not stop.

And then he looked down.

For there beside him…..

WAS HALF OF HIS MUSTACHE.

"D-darling!" Malva said, reaching out for him "D-D-Don't-!"

His mustache?

His PERFECT mustache?

His WONDERFUL mustache?!

IT HAD BEEN CUT?!

Wait, one HALF had been cut?!

Berlingots suddenly realized the gravity of the situation, springing up on his feet and pulling the sword out of the ground to get a better look at himself.

 _ **AH!**_

"Oh gracious…" said Malva.

 _ **AAAAAAAAAAH!**_

"Oh wow…" said Kobacha.

 _ **NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!**_

"Drama queen…." Huffed Blanc.

"MERDE! MERDE!" the little man continued to shout, realizing just how TERRIBLE he looked with half hi face completely clean shaven "Oh PHFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT- LORD IN HEAVEN WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

The man stopped, eyes going down to pin-points as the crowd continued to laugh…

And laugh….

AND LAUGH.

"I think it looks rather….FETCHING." Blanc teased, Bernie suddenly turning around, a disturbed look about him.

"VA TE FAIRE FOURTE, MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!" The little man shouted at the top of his lungs, giving the pumpkin man a rather…..CHOICE hand signal to boot.

"….I hate you."

"Berlingots!" cried Malva as she chased after the man "Wait, don't go!"

Taffyta and Gloyd watched as both her parents took off, neither knowing exactly WHAT to take from the entire exchange.

"WOW….." said Gloyd "Did ya get a picture of that, Taff?"

"Yes….yes I did….."


	3. Candlehead's Cake Catastrophe

Candlehead's Cake Catastrophe

The sun was rising in Sugar Rush, the warm air spreading across the land in a promise of another beautiful day. Inside the upper stories of the Candle Wick Café, a young girl rested soundly underneath her many layers of comfy, soft quilts, all of them decorated with some sort of cupcake or another wonderful sweet.

"Mmmmm….chocolate covered French-fries…." She drooled in her sleep, squeezing her mint-chip stuffed pig, the thing squealing loudly.

*COUGH COUGH!*

A roaring COUGH echoed the halls of the café but the girl was undisturbed.

*COUGH! COUGH COUGH COUGH!*

"Meiji!"

"*snrk*What?"

Again, the child was not disturbed, her dreams filled with too many good and tasty things to worry about.

Downstairs however, things were a little different.

"Meiji…." Fussed a small woman with mint-green hair "Just go into the living room and lay down for a bit. This is SOOOO stupid!"

A large man with chocolate-brown hair lumbered by, his face not looking too happy…nor health.

"Castalla….I got this." He grumped, brushing past the woman with a tray in his hand but Castalla leapt up and took the big man by his arms "Nrrugh."

"Oh, no! Not today Meiji." The woman scolded, trying with all her might to pull the man back "I KNEW doin' all those late night runs were gonna be bad for ya, ESPECIALLY with tha downpours we've been havin'!"

"It is our business, CASSIE."

"Don't call me that. Ya know outta ALL the nicknames I can be called, THAT-!"

"Look sweetie. We started the Café up to show everyone our skills RIGHT?"

Castalla nodded, her long thick pigtails flying about "Yes, of course we did! I mean who could forget that night when Candicus came in and we had to use molten fudge to blast his a-!"

"I wanna make sure we keep on top." The man said, sniffling again "There is a LOT of competition, a LOT…..an' I am happy that the Royals consider us top-shelf enough to have us cater to them for all events they hold so please understand me. THIS IS THE REASON I HAVE TO KEEP WORKING."

"Meiji…" Castalla said, eyeing "Ya a COLD. How does that help in ANY way?

"I don't catch colds. I don't catch fevers. I DON'T GET SICK." Meiji grumped LOUDLY, obviously very sick "I DON'T GET-!"

 _MALVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_

 _WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TA MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!_

 _Bernie, oh my god shut up!_

Meiji's face was red with fever but it turned even redder with anger.

"I don't catch COLDS…." He growled "But I do catch ANNOYANCES."

 _ **BLA BALA BLAU BLUB LU BLLBLBULBULBUBLUBBLLUB!**_

Being as big as he was came to a lot of advantages for Meiji, even if the café and the apartment that housed it was small and tight. He could EASILY reach his large arms up and pound on the roof.

 ***BOOM BOOM BOOM!***

 _See now you disturbed the neighbors!_

 _ **LIKE I GIVE A HOOT WHAT MEIJI THINKS!**_

 _ **BERLINGOTS!**_

"Hey, HEY!" the man shouted "We gotta kid sleeping in here! Shut the heck up Gob dang it!"

More stomping was heard from the next apartment, the utensils on the wall shaking and clattering loudly.

" _ **BERLINGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTS!"**_

 _ **OH, I'M SORRY! AM I DIS-TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURBIN' YA!**_

"Is that lil ball of dough tap-dancin'?!" the man growled _**"SHUT UP GOB DANG IT!"**_

"Meiji!"

"Mmmm, mama? Papa?"

Berlingots was STILL tap-dancing upstairs but Meiji and Castalla turned around, their little daughter coming down the stairs.

"Hmmmm, I wan' pancakes."

They had waffles instead.

"Daddy?"

Meiji glanced over at his daughter, his head starting to hurt "Yeah, Candlehead?"

"Ya look a lil sick…." The girl said before stuffing another waffle in her mouth.

Brilliance.

"Your mother as gone on about me with those worries but I'm telling you BOTH." The big man shuddered "I. AM. OK-!"

COUGHS.

LOTS OF COUGHS!

Meiji began coughing once more, feeling dizzier. There was no doubt about it, not matter how much he try to deny the fact, he was SICK and in absolutely no condition to go about getting things ready for the Royal Party.

"It's later this week anyway…." Meiji fussed, his nose stopped up so much that he could even taste his mint-tea "I-I can hold out until then?"

"Really?" Castalla asked bemused "With all the orders we hafta fill up anyway? You're gonna be BURNT out by the party!"

"I will no-NAH-NAH-!"

Here it comes.

"NAAAAAAAAAAAH-CHO!"

Sneezes?

Coughs?

Yup, a cold.

"Yup, I knew it." Castalla said, getting up from the table and taking Meiji by his ear "Sick. Bed. NOW."

"B-B-But Castalla!" the big man whined as he was dragged up the stairs, leaving Candlehead alone in the kitchen. She could hear the voices of her parents disappearing as they got further away and soon….

She was alone.

She sat in the front dining hall of the café, looking out the window as more and more people strolled by. This was a point of view the girl was used to but it did feel a little odd to see the way they were moving about, watching the people move outside of the glass, a few little candy kids looking in.

"I wonder if this is what a cake feels like from inside tha oven….."

A few moments later, Castalla arrived back from the bedrooms, shaking her head but she was smiling all the same.

"Big stubborn chocolate drop."

"Hi, mama!" smiled Candlehead "Is papa gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine, if he keeps his big butt in bed."

"But mama, ya know that Mrs. Malava Maimai Chococada Muttonfudge is tha one with tha big butt, not papa!"

CANDLEHEAD.

"Look dearie, I really need ta go to tha store to pick up some medicine for your father so can you do mama a big, big, BIG triple-chocolate cake favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Make sure your papa doesn't take ONE step out of that bed. Ya now he's a stubborn as a chocolate boar so if he even dares ta try ta-!"

"I am on it, mama!" Candlehead beamed, saluting her mother "Papa won't get outta his bed, no matter what!"

"Good girl!" Castalla sang, kissing her daughter on the forehead "Until I get back, the café is gonna be closed so don't let anyone come in for purchases. Its fine if Taffyta, Malva, or Bernie come in from the back since they are tha only ones with a key but no one else, okay?"

"But what about everythin' else?" asked the girl with big eyes "We still have a lotta things ta get done."

"I know we do, cupcake but just wait till mama gets back okay?"

"Yup-yup-yippe!" said Candlehead "Ya can count on me!"

"I know I can!" smiled Castalla, finally leaving the café and Candlehead in charge. The little cake-headed racer had never felt so proud in a single moment. There she was, in charge of the Candle Wick Café for the first time in her life!

Well…..

KIND OF.

More than anything, Candlehead was in charge of making sure that it was SECURE and that her father was rested. The girl quietly lopped up the stairs and went to her parents' bedroom, only to find Meiji sprawled on the floor mattress, his long legs spilling out from beyond where the thing ended.

" _Mmmm, yes your majesties…..I DID bake Bernie in tha pie. Yes, I would love ta be knighted for that…."_

" _He's fine…."_ Candlehead tittered as she went back to the kitchen to clean up the plates. She whistled a happy tune to herself but as she finished with the last dish she noticed something on the wall.

It was the invite to the grand party that was supposed to be taking place later that week. Candlehead could not wait to go, having another chance to see her friend Rancis and possibly have another chance to spend time with Princess Vanellope but the more she thought, the more worried she became.

"Mama and papa usually work together ta make tha best meals and dishes…." The girl murmured "An' with papa sick, that means that mama will have ta work TWICE as hard to cover!"

What a sad predicament that would be! Castalla had the work ethics and energy of one million humming birds filled up with the most sugary of nectar but she could only handle so much on her own. She and Meiji were always the perfect team as it was only together they had managed to gain so much popularity and love with their sweets. If either one of them were split up, it could not only mean bad things for the café but the KINGDOM as a whole!

The Sugar Rush kingdom would lose its sweetness.

"Oh….I can't let mama or papa down on this…." The girl said, her head hanging low "I…I hafta do somethin' for 'em!"

And that was when Candlehead's mind was made up.

She was going to bake!

Meanwhile, Castalla had made her way to the local pharmacy, trying to find the correct medication for her husband.

"Now, let's see….he has sneezes and coughs, aches and pains, but I am not sure if the additional grumpiness is from is COLD or just Meiij being MEIJI."

The woman was about to look again when a head of golden-blond hair struck her sights.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she squealed, so loudly that a few panes of glass shattered.

The figure twitched, caught right in the middle of a trap.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!"

The aforemention man turned, a pained smile on his face as Castalla CRASHED right into the Royal page.

"OH! I ALWAYS LOVE BUMPING INTO YOU!" Castalla said loudly, people looking on in shock as the only other candy human was being squeezed to death before all.

WHY?

"MMMPRGH!" growled Reese, not at all in the mood to deal with Castalla "Y-You said that yesterday."

"What are you doing out in the village?" Castalla smiled "I would have thought a page such as yourself would be really busy gettin' things together, especially with tha party comin' up!"

Reese blushed red in a nice tasty combo of humiliation and anger "I just needed to pick up a few things! That's all."

"Oh, you mean like that hair dye?"

Reese wanted to die.

"HEY! I'm pretty busy at the moment!" Reese smiled wide, the grin as fake as could be "So, I have to get going now and-!"

"Wait, I need some advice!"

Reese stopped, not sure if it were another trap or something honest "Advice? From me?"

"Yes, Meiji has a cold and he really want ta be at his all for that party comin' up. Do ya have any clue on which medication would be tha best for him?"

Reese adjusted his glasses as he looked at the wall of pills and tablets before him "Well, I think-!"

"Ya see-!" Castalla interrupted "He is bein' a coughy an' carbby but I don't know if its tha cold or if he's just mad that Bernie was tap-dancing too hard again. So should I get THIS box or this box? I mean THIS box has those lil faces printed on tha tablets but I don't think I should let Candlehead near 'em since they look like candy an'-"

"Castalla, those ARE candies." Reese said, slapping his forehead.

"Oh? OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" the woman smiled "Those are for ME! I forgot! WHOOPS!"

No wonder Reese was going grey.

Back at the café, Candlehead was gathering her ingredients and her supplies, ready to get the baking done.

"Okay…." She said, fire in her eyes "LET'S GET COOKIN'!"

Things started off simple enough as the little girl read the list of sweets and treats that were going to be needed for the party.

Bon-Bons

Tarts

Pies

Cookies

Brownies

All the Sugar Rush classics.

"Heh, I got this…." And indeed she was correct. Even for a girl her age and size, Candlehead was an expert in the kitchen already and she knew EXACTLY where each utensil, where each spice was kept and how each machine worked. Within the hour she had made a batch of her famous reverse-mint cookies, the things such a soft, sweet mint color with dark chocolate chips and a pillow texture.

"There! That's one batch done!"

The bon-bons were next.

"Now, I know Queen Milka REALLY has a taste for the ones wit pop-rocks…." The girl laughed to herself "So why not make things a lil INTERESTIN?"

Candlehead stood on a step-stool in front of the bon-bon mixer, a massive bowl with a massive paddle and whisk. She turned the device on and poured in the cream and chocolate, making sure that it was fluffed and whipped to the correct texture.

"An' now…." Candlehead said, taking too large bags of Pop-rocks under her arm "Ta add tha explosive!"

The little rocks crackled and popped, letting out beautiful sparks of light when they did as well as a sweet, fruity scent. When they were poured into the mixture, they were swallowed up and buried in the fluff but Candlehead made certain they were folded in too hard that they would go off too soon.

She wanted to save THAT for when people got a taste.

"An' now…."

On to the coating!

The inner fluff of the bon-bons were then dropped bit by bit onto the rolling belt where they were coated with a perfectly measured coat of dark and milk chocolate. Candlehead had made certain that the special bon-bons were laced with the colors of the Royal family, her mind just going off into space as she daydreamed of what the King and Queen would say when they bit into their treats.

"Ooooooh! I know this is gonna be great!"

By the two hour point, Candlehead had gotten more work done than she had thought yet her mother still had not come home yet.

And one could have one imagined why.

By now, Castalla had dragged Reese throughout the square, the peanut-butter man wanting nothing more than to escape his cruel fate but Castalla had him in an iron grip.

"Okay, maybe if we go ta THIS place, they might have what we need?"

"We just CAME from here!"

"We DID?" blinked Castalla.

"MRS. HANABI!" Reese said, puffing his chest out and trying to look as 'royal' as possible "You….dragged us out of that place thirty seconds ago. We just walked in a COMPLETE circle!"

"So…does that mean they'll have tha medicine in stock NOW?"

 **AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGH.**

Candlehead had a whole new stock of fresh cookies and pies set up for when her mother was to come back but as time went on, Castalla did not show up. The café was to have opened HOURS ago for the breakfast crowd but now it was ticking painful near lunch.

Candlehead was hungry, per the norm.

And she knew the people of Sugar Rush would be hungry.

"Ooooh, what should I do?"

Open?

Keep the café closed?

OPEN?

KEEP THE CAFÉ CLOSED?

She was so nervous, co conflicted!

Ducking down like a little moue, Candlehead lopped up the stairs again and checked on Meiji. His slumber was a lot more peaceful this time and he wrapped himself tightly in his blankets.

" _I'm sure daddy wouldn't mind. He hates when we lose business anyway…."_

The girl's mind was made up.

She was going to open the Café!

The girl rushed down to the opening of the store and flipped the sign and no sooner had she done that did a few candy people begin to file in, all ready and all hungry.

"Okay, line up!"

Even if Candlehead were only a child, even if the other children did see her as a dizty….the girl could cook and knew her way with money like a pro. She was by herself at the counter but she lined everyone up in order and made certain that they got their muffin, roll, coco, or bread. Every gold coin was counted, every bill was in order.

Castalla and Meiji would not have been prouder.

"This is so much fun!" Candlehead squealed to herself as she went to the back of the kitchen to get another crate of milk "I…I hope when I open my own café, I can run it just like this….w-with a lil help of course."

The girl was blushing…

But WHOM about?

"I say, is there ANYONE here in charge?"

*DING DING DING*

A big voice blasted from the front of the café, the girl squeaking as she nearly dropped the crate.

"Ah, comin'!"

Candlehead was all a smiles as she skipped into the front but she skidded to a halt once she saw who was before her.

BIG DANGO YOKAN.

Oh, boy.

"A-AH!" Candlehead fidgeted before the large man "Mr. Dango Yokan, it-it is so nice ta see ya."

Dango laughed loudly as only a massive ham such as himself could "Aw, ain't that sweet. It puts such pride in mah heart ta see that young girls like ya today still have their manners about them! Maybe I should have ya teach Sakura a thing or two! Lil lady seems ta be takin' too much from her mother, if I must say so mah-self. HAW-HAW-HAW!"

The meaning of the comment went in one ear and out the other, Candlehead smiling blissfully unaware.

"Is there somethin' ya want, sir?"

"Now I do, I do think I am feelin' a lil puckish for whatever is tha special of tha day!"

"Tha special?" Candlehead smiled "Oh, that's our starberry tea with peach an' a cranberry cheesecake muffin!"

"Then I'll take twenty-dozen of 'em!"

The girl froze in her tracks; what Mr. Yokan wanted?

"T-Tw-twenty?"

"TWENTYY-DOZEN, young lady!" Dango repeated, his voice so loud that it shook the entire café but then he noticed the way the young girl was looking at him. He stooped down, perhaps getting a might TOO close to Candlehead "Now, that ain't gonna be a problem is it, Ms. Hanabi?"

"E-eh? NO?"

"Well that's WONDERFUL!" Dango declared again, putting a hand on his chest, the other candy people looking on in awe "I KNEW that tha Candle Wick Café was THEEEEE place ta come for all mah needs! Ya know, I have ah shoot goin' on about lat'ah today an' I am SOOOOO glad that of all tha places ta come ta, THIS was tha first one ta come ta mah mind! HE-HAW-HAW! That's ah complement, young lady! Ah complement!"

Now what was Candlehead going to do? Filling in the lunch rush was one thing but having to put in SO MANY orders at once

Now she was starting to see what working as a team was so important.

But Big Dango was a top customer, the most famous movie star in possibly of all the Sugar WORLD and if she were to let HIM down? Oh, the disaster that would come! Dango would tell his wife, then his wife would tell the Queen then the Queen would tell the King and then King would relay the message to other people around the world and-!

Disaster.

That's what it would be.

"Ahaha….." the little girl ducked behind the counter "I'll….I'll have your order out shortly….hopefully?"

"Thank ya so much!" Dango laughed again, making himself comfortable in one of the chairs "Now…WHO WANTS AN AUTOGRAPH?"

Me!

No, Me MEEEEEE!

Candlehead rushed to the back of the kitchen and went all about, looking for the ingredients she needed.

"O-okay, flour! Salt an' sugar! Cranberries of course!"

Tea?

Where were the tea bags?

"Oh NOOOOOOOOOO!" the girl hollered "I forgot! I wasn't supposed to put starberry tea on the board because we're-!"

OUT.

O-U-T.

OUT.

Things were starting to look bad for the little baker but she could not give up, especially when she had an ACTOR to please, one that everyone knew was NOTORIOUS for always flapping his mouth.

She HAD to bake….

And so she began.

She needed a LOT of muffins to fill the order so the muffins were the first on the list.

"M-Milk, eggs, butter an' berries-!"

Then she got the water boiling for the tea.

"We need a HUGE drum of it…." The girl gulped "An' we don't have starberry so maybe…maybe gemberry would work just as well?"

Work, work, work….

The huge mixing bowl sputtered and putters as Candlehead threw ingredient after ingredient but she knew she was being timed and as she worked, she could hear other customers in the front end waiting.

"Hey, can I order something?"

"B-Be there in a second!"

"I need ta get back ta my job! I don't have all day!"

"JUST A MOMENT!"

By now, Candlehead was covered from head to toe with baking ingredients and things were getting worse. She had left the cream cheese out too long and it was starting to melt all over the floor! The flour and milk hadn't mixed correctly and it formed into a thick, inedible past rather an a sweet, silky batter.

"AH!" the girl cried "AH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I NEED-!"

"I say, is there anythin' wrong in thar lil lady?"

Candlehead rushed to the front counter, nearly slipping on the butter and cream-cheese mixture in the process. She gazed up at Big Yokan, laughing nervously.

"Y-Yes, sir! Just give me a moment on those muffins! Th-they're gonna take a while!"

A while?

This was going to take more than a while but Candlehead needed more time. She needed something to keep the other customers occupied, entertained, anything!

Entertained?

"MR. DANGO POCO YOKAN!"

It only took a second but the man…BLUSHED?

Candlehead and her habit of saying EVERY NAME.

The big man cleared his throat and looked down at the small girl "N-Now, Miss Candlehead. It is not proper behavior of ah child such as yourself ta go about-!"

"Do ya think ya can redo that scene in that movie!?"

"What…what movie?"

"THA MOVIE YA WERE IN!"

"Which…movie?"

"Ya know….THAT one!" said the girl, flubbering about "Tha one with…with tha THING where ya do tha thing with tha other thing an' there was a guy who talked loud an'….an' things!"

Dango stood up, tapping his lip for a moment but he brightened up "Ah, ya mean one of MAAAAH favorites! Darkness Over tha Shugah Minds Part Twenty Four!"

"Yeah, that's it!"

Dango wasn't going to pass up a single opportunity to miss out on this, the man standing right in the middle of the packed café as he began his act.

"This is your CAPTAIN speaking!" Dango began, making his voice sound more like the character he had portrayed in the film "And we are about to hit light speed! Buckle in and prepare-!"

And with that, Candlehead was gone.

"GAAAAAAAAAAH!" the girl screamed as he noticed that things had only escalated even further into a mess, the dough of the muffins swelling up to a massive ball of goo and water and cheesecake mess all over the floor!

"No, no, no! It wasn't supposed to go like this!"

Candlehead zipped around the kitchen, trying her best to put a lid on things and hoping that her father wouldn't at all wake up considering the noise that was all around. The kitchen was binging and banging, Dango was acting as loud as ever and if she didn't do anything soon-!

"CRITICAL! CRITICAL!" the girl cried "WE HAVE REACHED CRITICAL!"

It was even beyond that.

The kettle from for the tea was positioned right under the tin where Castalla and Meiji kept the popcorn kernels and the steam from the boiling water was causing it to heat up, hotter and hotter and hotter!

What happens when you mix heat and steam to popcorn kernels?

A CATASTROPHE.

The kernels began to EXPLODE, POP POP POPPING everywhere as Candlehead ducked and covered. The things shot through the kitchen like BULLETS, hitting everything.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUURGH! I NEED PAPA!"

Popcorn was going everywhere and soon a wayward kernel hit a bottle of Rocket Soda off the shelf, the bottle tumbling into the box of pop-rock bon-bons that Candlehead had prepared only hours before. The top cracked off, spilling the contents inside the box and-!

And….

 _And….._

Dango was still acting his heart out, the crowd looking on with intrigued eyes.

"Its….its like we're watching the movie LIVE!" said one awestruck fan.

"I AM THE CAPTAIN OF THIS SPACE FLYER!" Dango said "AND IF THERE IS A BOMB HERE!? I SHALL THROW MY BODY ON IT AND TAKE THE BLAST FOR HONOR AND TO PROTECT MY CREW!"

 _ ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!***_

 _ **KIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**_

In the moment of the explosion, Dango LEAPT off his feet and clung to the ceiling fan, the thing slowly spinning him around as he hung on for dear life.

"W-What in tha world was-?!"

"CANDLEHEAD?!" shouted Meiji as he came rushing down the stairs.

"CANDLEHEAD?!" shouted Castalla as she bolted in through the door.

She had returned.

Castalla looked at Meiji….then she looked at the crowd in the room and Dango still hanging from the ceiling fan.

"Oh! OH!" the woman cried out as her mind came back to her "Honey, you're up!"

Meiji was surprised that his wife was greeting him as if him being up was the only surprise going on. He turned towards the kitchen and notice thick smoke billowing out of the door and some sort of 'batter' oozing out onto the floor.

"Candlehead? CANDLEHEAD?!"

The entire kitchen was a mess with dough, sweets, and various other things, but in the middle of it all lay Candlehead, dizzy and even messier than the equipment around her.

"Oh my GOBS!" gasped Castalla as she saw her daughter laying in the middle of the muck "Baby, are you okay?!"

" _W-What?"_

"The kitchen!" gasped Meiji, snorting loudly a second later "W-What happened to our kitchen?!"

Candlehead knew it.

She was in trouble now.

"Oh, sweetie! I told ya take keep tha cafe close until I came back, remember!" said Castall sadly.

"THIS IS GONNA TAKE DAYS TO CLEAN UP!" bellowed Meiji, looking all around.

"Dear, calm down." Castall said as she got up and shook the box of cold tablets before her husband "You're sick so-!"

"Forget about me bein' SICK! LOOK AT ALL OF THIS!" the man roared, fuming like Candlehead had never seen him before. She shrank down, terrified to see her father so angry and she knew he was angry because of what she did.

"Did….did your mama tell ya NOT ta open up?!" Meiji yelled as he looked down at Candlehead.

"Y-Yes, but-!"

"AND YOU DISOBEYED HER?!" the man cried, putting his hands to his head "AAURGH! AURGH! I-! CANDLEHEAD!"

The girl was near to tears, shivering but she didn't go back to either of her parents, instead she started to back away to the door.

"I-I didn't mean it! I just wanted ta help out an'-!"

"I say, is tha ordah up?" Dango said, having crossed over the counter and opened the door to the kitchen, looking over at the two owners of the café in a clueless manner "Your daughter said we could have some of your lunch special an'-!"

"DOES IT LOOK LIKE THA 'OH-DAH' IS UP?!" Meiji growled as he rushed Dango "For GOBS sake man, look around ya!"

"Now hold on, I say now HOLD ON MAAAAAY-GEEE! Your daughter PROMISED that she could fill our order before we had ta go on a shoot!"

"Ya believed a NINE YEAR OLD KID could handle how many of those stupid orders at once?! ARE YA REALLY THAT DAFT?!"

"DAFT?!" Dango shouted back, bumping Meiji with his chest "SUUUUR, I may be ah GENTLEMAN but if ya keep behavin' in such ah mann'ah before me I SHALL SHOW YA WHAT DANGO YOKAN CAN DO!"

Meiji might have had a cold but he wasn't going to let DANGO of all people get him.

"Ya raccoon-eyed, egotistical non-good excuse for a hack! I'm gonna-!"

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Candlehead wailed, all the adults, all the customers,, turning around and looking at her "I'm sorry daddy! I'm sorry mama! I'm sorry Mr. Dango Poco Yokan!"

All three of the adults looked on.

"I-I just wanted ta help because papa was sick, mama had ta go out an'….an' I didn't want business ta go bad while they were out!" the girl sniffled, big tears coming out of her eyes and snot dripping from her nose.

Meiji looked down at his sniveling child, calming down if just for a moment.

"Baby?"

"I-I wanted ta show ya guys that I could run a café like ya two! A-An' things were workin' out fine! I didn't know that I was gonna get so many orders so soon! I didn't know I was gonna make so much of a mess! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! I JUST WANTED TA MAKE PAPA FEEL BETTER AN' MAMA PROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!"

Candlehead wailed so loud that a few people a few buildings away could hear it and inside the café?

The adults had never felt so awkward in their lives.

Castalla looked at Meiji, Meiji looked at Dango and all three looked at Candlehead. She was just crying and crying away before them.

"Oh for land's sake…." Dango said, blushing deeply as he reached into his pocket "Dry your eyes, child."

Candlehead took the handkerchief and blew into it…and blew….and…..

 _ ***SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRFT!***_

The look on Dango's face said it all.

"….Keep it. C-Consider it a gift."

"Oh, baby…." Castalla sighed "We….we need ta talk."

"We will…." Meiji said as he walked around the room "But AFTER we get everything sorted out."

"Meiji, don't do this." Warned Castalla "You're sick, ya need ta be in bed an'-!"

"An' what kinda father would I be ta leave all this work for YA two ta sort out?" the man began, handing Candlehead a mop "This is tha Candle Wick Café. We always work together ta make things their best?"

Candlehead sniffled again as she looked up, realizing that maybe her father wasn't as mad as she had feared he was.

"Dango?"

Dango cleared his throat and stood up tall "Yes, Meiji?"

"Give us an hour. I will have what you ordered out."

And indeed he did.

Candlehead continued to clean but she watched as her father worked on the large order that Dango had given him and in no time flat, the muffins, the peaches and a large vessel of tea were prepared for the crew.

"Hope this is enough." Meiji said, looking on the slightest bit tired "An' there are a few more in there, no cost."

Dango beamed "Sir, thank ya so much for comin' through with mah needs! This shall not go unreward so enjoy tha bonus on ME!"

BONUS?

Dango gave Meiji a roll of bills as big as a PORK ROLL.

"Thank ya Dango!" Castalla waved "We'll be sure ta check out tha movie when its out!"

"Thank ya so kindly, Mrs. Hanabi!" Dango bowed, loading everything up in the limo outside the cafe "An' now I must take haste! We cannot waste any more time of tha day!"

And with that, Dango was gone but there were still so many customers to be taken care of.

"Dango is so sweet…." Castalla said, her hand still waving as they watched the man get driven away. Meiji's grin was big….but it was as fake as a wooden nickel.

" _He is such a jackass."_

Castalla's reply to that was a sharp jab in the side.

The day went on and more and more people came in. Candlehead was working as hard as ever as once the cleaning was done she was in the kitchen baking with her parents.

"Do we have plenty of sugar?" asked Meiji.

"What type?"

"Brown!"

"Candlehead, can you get some for your father?" asked Castalla. The girl was happy to oblige and as the hours went on she found herself going this way and that, sometimes even having to run to the market to quickly fetch a replacement ingredient or another item.

She was on her feet all day and by the time the café finally closed?

SHE WAS EXHAUSTED!

"Ooooooh, tired!" the girl moaned as she flopped on the couch but a massive crash fell next to her, her father being the one to cause the noise "OH, PAPA!"

"Auuuuuurgh." The man groaned, panting heavily, the usually stern grumpy look on his face gone "Me too."

"Papa?"

The man turned his head, his daughter looking at him with such sad eyes "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry…."

Meiji groaned, his throat hurting and his eyes watering. He knew that Candlehead had caused SUCH trouble with her attempts to help but even with that he could not stay mad at her. He felt that she had learned her lesson and as she was fixing what she could, he had taken notice in how fluid she was when baking, all the attention to details she put into ever order to make it just right.

But she also added her own Candlehead twist.

He had watched as the girl prepared cupcakes and tarts, sandwiches and snacks with her own little flavor to it and how the customers would react. They have never looked so happy to take a bite out of their orders, their eyes lightening up and their smiles widening.

Looking at them, Meiji was reminded of why he loved cooking and why he loved food in general.

But most of all, why he loved his daughter.

She was a little ditzy, maybe a little clumsy.

But he wouldn't change a bit of it.

The big man reached over and pinched his little daughter on the nose "Next time….just wait until your mama comes home, okay?"

Candlehead nodded, her pig tails going everywhere "O-okay."

Meiji wanted to sit up but the floor felt too comfortable at this point "Auuuugh, maybe Castalla was right. After this, no more late runs."

Really?

"Okay, RAIN. I can take….but if it hailin'? Maybe not? What do ya think, Candlehead?"

No reply.

"Baby?"

"Snrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk!"

Meiji looked over and saw that his daughter had fallen asleep, the busy day just enough to take all that energy away from her. The big man smiled, seeing Castalla walk in with a tray of soup.

"Is she out?"

"Yup…" the big man said as she sat up, taking the soup and sipping it "Maybe we could use her help for that party. I know tha Queen would LOVE those pop-rock bon-bons."

Castalla grinned "How many, mister?"

How many?

During a break, Meiji had 'said' he was going to check on something.

But in reality, he had shut himself up in a closet and eaten an ENTIRE box of the things.

"Uh. ONE."

Te family then rested upon the floor, such peace about them.

And then...

 _Briiiip!_

Candlehead opened a sleepy eye, seeing that her phone had gone off.

"H-Huh, what?"

C-Butt?

The girl read the messages sent to her, her eyes growing wider. Someone was waiting for her but her parents.

They were still asleep, still unaware of what was happening.

"Aw, I'm sure they'll be okay..." the girl smiled as she placed a blanket upon the two, lopping up the stairs once more. While her parents slept, they had no idea of the events that would soon befall them, all thanks to a photo and a misguided message on a cell phone.

The next morning Meiji awoke feeling better, Castalla still by his side and Candlehead clutched in her arms, the girl having returned from whatever adventure she had snuck away for only hours earlier. The entire family had spent the night in the living room and much to his hope, the Muttonfudges were quiet. He heard the familiar ringing of the paper bon-bon delivering the news of the morning, the big man walking to the door and taking it.

"Hmmm, hope tha weather is going to hold out…." He yawned "I don't want tha party ta be a-!"

He stopped.

The photo.

The photo on the front page.

"Meiji?"

"Daddy?"

Meiji couldn't move, his eyes wide in shock as he held the paper before him, not even noticing the sounds of his wife and daughter walking up to him.

"Dear, are ya okay? You're not feelin' icky again are ya?"

Silence.

Candlehead took a look, her eyes going just as wide as her father's "LOOK!"

"What is it, baby?"

"It's Mr. Berlingots Muttonfudge!" the girl cried out "An'-!"

 _ **BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**_

During those early hours of the morning, Meiji laughed a laugh so loud that even at the edge of the kingdom's border it could he heard. What was he laughing at?

Soon, everyone would find out.


	4. Crumbelina's Cure

Crumbelina's Cure

The Di Carmelo household.

If one wanted to see luxury in Sugar Rush, this was the place to go.

The home was situated near the edge of where the kingdom ended, facing the north said of the land and everyone who passed by the enourmous house could not stop but wonder what was going on inside.

But to KNOW the Di Carmelos?

That was another thing.

They were known for…THINGS.

Many things.

…..

VARIOUS things.

The family had power, that was one thing that was for certain. They may not have been ROYAL but what is the point of being ROYAL when your hands stretched out so far and so vast? Little petite Tiramisuzette was the real runner of the family, even though the name had been changed once her husband Zabaione had come from his own home, their marriage arranged and the man more or less 'adopted' into their empire.

Over the years, whispers of what the Di Carmelo's work traveled to and from but in all honestly no one really knew just how DEEP the family was tied to so many people around the Sugar World.

One thing was for certain.

It is not a good idea to mess with a Di Carmelo.

Little Crumbelina rested in her enormous room, her parents only a few doors down. The entire house was silent and even with their maids and butlers going about not a sound was heard nor made.

Until.

 _ **aaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!**_

Something from far away.

The parents were the first to awake, Zabaione opening his cold grey eyes and shivering. He had no energy to deal with whatever was going on and he tried to go back to sleep; it was just too early. Tiaramisuzette was the second to awaken, the strange sound pulling her from her wonderful dream.

What was the dream about?

Something about slicing people up with her sword.

The parents lay in place as they could hear the echoing laughter bounce off of every wall in the house, the servants stopping in their tracks as they knew that it was next to impossible for the Di Carmelos themselves to make noises like that.

Di Carmelos LAUGHING?

UNHEARD OF.

But now they had to get up. Zabaione buried his head under a pillow, Tiramisuzette threw the covers over her head.

It would not STOP!

"Darling?" the little woman said, looking over at her husband "I do believe our alarm has sounded."

Her husband said nothing, or it SOUNDED like nothing. The only thing Zabaione could do was mumbled deeply and angrily with his face on the mattress, his big fist aching to drive into the face of whoever was making that sound.

To say the least, the Di Carmelos were just a tad sleepy when they came to the great dining hall for breakfast, the three of them not even dressed yet. Crumbelina leaned on her mother, her mother patted her head, Zabaione leaned on the table, looking over at his wife.

His eyes spoke more than his words.

"No, you may not."

He scowled, cheeks turning red.

Breakfast was then brought out for the three, their peppermint butlers placing the meal before them.

"I trust that we will be free for the party coming up." Said Tira, making sure her eggs were just right "Have you talked to Tobias? Things are fine with him."

Zambi just stirred his eggs, once more his expression showing his wife what was going on.

"You two are such good friends." Said his wife "What is going on this time?"

Zambi rolled his eyes, Crumbelina watching him mime.

"Milka?"

Zambi shook his head, turning away with a huff.

"Reese?"

The man shut his eyes, buttering his toast.

"I figured." Said Tira "He means no harm, honestly. He just is very dedicated to his duty."

Zambi took a bite of his biscuit and glared down at his tiny way, the woman looking up with a frown.

"Don't use that tone on me, Mister!" the woman scolded "And do not even THINK about trying to plan some 'escape' out of the party. We are going and that is final."

Zambi grumbled loudly, reaching for another biscuit but Crumbelina slapped his hand. He looked down, his little daughter glaring up at him.

What was wrong?

Oh, he had taken the last one before her.

No one takes Crumbelina's sweet caramel butter biscuits.

Zambi sighed again, handing his daughter off the last of the pastries. Such a softy he had become once CHILDREN entered the picture.

"Did you hear me, darling?"

Zambi looked over, the glint in his wife's eyes piercing.

If he could see them of course.

She always had them covered by SOMETHING.

"So tonight, we get you fitted for a new suit."

Zambi pouted, as if that meant anything.

"What are you looking at me for?" asked Tira "I didn't imply anything by that."

"I do believe that father thinks you're implying that he needed to take his suits out." Said Crumbelina.

"I did nothing of the kind." Huffed Tira, Zambi looking over at his daughter.

The big man reached down and pinched Tira on her shoulders, Crumbelina looking on and acting as his translator.

"And now I think he is saying that he knows you're lying and you have no room to make fun of anyone….since you're a featherweight and he has to be careful not to blow you into the next country over if he sneezes near you….Whatever that means."

"Need I remind you that it was I who sent your butt to the floor when you challenged me upon meeting for the first time." Said Tiramisuzette, not at all sounding pleased "I did it then, I can still do it now, even if you're more of a lunk than you were fifteen years ago."

Zambi stuffed another biscuit in his mouth as if to tease his little wife even further.

"Father, you're going to eat all the biscuits before I do." Crumbelina protested, her little hands reaching out for more.

"Beyond your fussing and mussing…." Tira said, ignoring her husband's behavior "We are going to that party."

Another biscuit.

"Do you hear?"

Another biscuit.

"You heard."

Zambi heard, but he wasn't going to like it. He hated going to Royal parties, even it meant bridging more gaps between so many 'businesses'. But then he looked down at his daughter, remembering that she DID like those parties. It wouldn't have been fair for the big man to keep his daughter out of the enjoyment of such events just because he despised them. He took in a deep breath and got up from the table, walking off to get himself ready for the day.

Wash.

Shave.

Dress.

As sharp as ever.

Now to find the others.

Tira had already gotten herself ready as did little Crumbelina, the man finding the two sitting in the large reading room of the mansion.

"So….have you changed your mind." Tira said, on a ladder a she looked for a book.

Again, a slight move of the eyebrows and a change in his walking gait was enough to signal to Tira that she had once more won an argument with the big man.

"Aaaah, see? No troubles."

Zambi felt a tug on his hand, looking down at his daughter. She usual wore the same hard-caramel face as he did but she seemed a lot softer this time, as if she were trying to brush away any worry that was going through the man at the moment.

"Daddy, it shall be fine." The little Di Carmelo said "If you do not like parties so much, I will be by your side."

Zambi patted his little darling on the head, just a slight edge of a smile appearing on his face.

Just a SLIGHT one.

"Now that we have that cleared up…." Tira said, Zambi approaching her from behind "Maybe we can begin to-!"

*HIC!*

"EEP!" Tira cried, stumbling back right into her husband's chest. Thankfully, he caught her but as she looked up…

The look on his face.

It was one of rife embarrassment, something that Crumbelina had never seen and only rarely for Tira.

Had it happened?

It had happened!

"Zabaione?" the little woman asked "Are you alright, dar-?"

HIC!

It happened again.

Now Zabaione was even more embarrassed, that trademark Sugar Rush blush of his growing deeper and deeper by the second.

HIC!

"Biscuits….." Tira said, scolding her husband "This always happens when you inhale those biscuits. Let this be a lesson for you."

Zambi could only reply with another hiccup, standing right in place as Tira walked around him.

HIC!

She went to the desk.

HIC!

She looked for a pen.

HIC!

He did not move.

"Do you want sympathy?"

HIC!

"You are getting none from me."

HIC!

"You can stand there all day. It does not matter."

HIC!

HIC!

HIC!

….

HIC!

Don't fall for the trap, don't fall for it!

Tira looked up, Zambi glaring down at her with his hands in his pockets. It was a face-off, Crumbelina looking on and awaiting to see which parent would flinch first. It could be a tie, it could come to the final leg and-!

HIC!

"Urf."

Had Zambi…..SPOKEN?

This was no joke, Zambi looking rather uncomfortable as he walked away, Crumbelina looking upset.

"Daddy, do you want me to help?"

The big man looked down, preparing to say something but-

"HE'S FINE." Tira yelled from the library, cutting her husband off "He's just trying to get his way!"

Crumbelina wasn't too sure. She knew that both her parents had their iron will about them but in the case of HICCUPS?

Zabaione seemed to be breaking just a tad.

"I will help you, daddy…." The little racer said as she led her father to the kitchen "Do not worry about a thing."

Crumbelina fished around for the sugar bowl, taking a spoonful and shoving it in her father's face.

"Daddy?"

The big man took the spoon and-!

"Crumbelina!"

"Yes, mother?"

"DON'T YOU DARE FEED HIM!"

"But mother-!"

"YOU HEARD ME!"

Crumbelina knew the orders she had been given….but she gave her father a smile and a wink, popping the spoon right into his mouth.

Did it work?

HIC!

"I guess not…." Said Crumbelina, her mind going away to think of what to do next "Perhaps water?"

She went to the sink, standing on her step-stool and pour him a glass of water.

Drink.

Cured?

There was a moment of pause and…

HIC!

Nope.

"Those are the cures that I am familiar with…." Crumbelina said "Maybe we need to look out for more."

Crumbelina led her father down the halls back to the library but Tira was still inside, going over 'papers'. The little caramel girl had a feeling that her mother's mood would be spoiled should her work be interrupted by Zambi's constant-

"*HIC!*"

Hiccups….

"You gave him sugar."

Crumbelina gulped; CAUGHT!

"You have him water."

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"And still, nothing worked?"

The little girl shook her head, her mother sighing.

"It always happens like this…." The woman said "It always happens like this, Zabaione."

The big man said nothing, lowering his head down in shame.

"Well, both of you get your coats."

"Why, mother?" 

Why?

If the cure for Zabaione's hiccups could not be found at the mansion then perhaps it could be found somewhere in town. The three took the stroll from the mansion all the way down to the main village and through it all….through it all Zambi continued to hiccup, LOUDLY.

This was not a good day to be a Di Carmelo.

Zambi walked with his wife and daughter taking the lead but with each hiccup he just wanted to dive under the nearest car and hide. He HATED it, the sudden attention he got when he hiccupped so loudly and it was impossible for people NOT to stare. People were already wary of the big man given his size and 'skills' but to see him in such a state; his cheeks blushing, that embarrassed little frown on his face?

What could POSSIBLY happen that could make things worse?

"Ah?" Tira asked a she arrived at the house of the royal gardeners. A moment or two passed before the door opened, Ah looking down at the little Di Carmelo.

"Goodness, what a surprise it is to see you, Tira."

"The pleasure is all mine." Tira said with a little bow "We have come here for some assistance."

"What for?" the cherry gardener asked but before another word could come-

HIC!

Ah nearly fell back with a yelp, Muffy appearing out of the door just in time to catch him.

"Goodness me, what was that?"

HIC!

"Look up and thou shall see." Tira said, a hand waving towards her husband. Ah's eyes lit up, his mind already knowing exactly what to do in such a situation.

"Come in, come in you three! I shall help you with this in no time."

No objections were made as the Di Carmelos found themselves lead to the green house, Jubileena and Citrusella politely offering the family some chairs as they got their own. Crumbelina sat across from them but as she slowly turned her head, the twin ducked.

To them, Crumbelina was some sort of ODDITY.

"Do you think she'll talk this time?" asked Jubileena

"I don't know." Meeped Citrusella.

They were nice, but perhaps too curious for Crumbelina's liking.

"I have a hiccup cure down, pat." Smiled Ah, reaching for his dried fruit leaves and other plants "It's a simple matter, really. Everyone says that it is IMPOSSIBLE to cure hiccups? Well, they have never seen the master at work!"

The man turned to his wife, tossing her one of the large jars of leaves down.

"Muffy, you know what to do."

The plump blueberry woman smiled and went to the stove, heating the water and adding the honey.

"Jubi, Cissy?"

"Yes, daddy?" both girls said at the same time.

"Help us. This is going to take many hands to work."

And so the Bing-Bings began their work at the stove, mixing the brew up as rainbow colored tuffs of steam began to billow up into the air, a sweet, sweet scent surrounding all.

"And there…." Said Ah, pouring the tea into the cup "You go."

"Are you sure this will work?" asked Tira "And what exactly is in this by the way."

"A private mixture!" winked the gardener, walking over towards his twins and patting them on the head as they smiled "Though I shall say that there are hints of cherries and blueberries in it. They are always the go-to for making up a nice cure-all."

Zambi wasn't so certain about taking his 'medicine' as for as long as he knew Ah, he knew that some of his cures could get….CRAZY.

HIC!

But at this point, Zambi would try ANYTHING to cure himself, no matter how silly the tea looked to him, the liquid inside the cup turning colors every second.

He just wasn't a man for Sugar Rush.

"Zabaione, do not be rude." Scowled his wife "Ah and Muffy made this for you. Drink it."

And that was what he did.

The brew TASTED alright; a little sweet a little sour and it went down smoothly enough. But was it going to work, that being the most important question of all. Everyone looked at the big man, his mind screaming for them to get away but then-!

!

?!

?!

"Zabaione?!"

It felt like an ENORMOUS jolt of electricity hit the man, his body knocked right out of his chair as an EXPLOSION of color flashed in everyone's eyes! It happened so fast that Zambi had no chance at all to scream, his heavy body landing with thud on the ground and-!

HIC!

He still had the hiccups!

"Darling!" Tira cried out, rushing to her love only to let out a gasp "YOU'RE-! You're….PINK?!"

Pink?

No, wait blue!

RED!

….Green?

The man was dizzy as he sat up but once he got a look at his hands he saw the 'side effects' of his so-called cure. He was now turning COLORS every second, waves and waves and waves of chorme and rainbows splotched not only on his skin but his suit as well.

"Wait, Ah?"

"Yes?"

"Was that the hiccup cure?" the blueberry woman asked "Or did we mix up a brew of our fruit-tree restorer?"

The look Zabaione shot Ah at that moment would have frozen anyone into stone; he was NOT at all happy.

"Is Mr. Di Carmelo turning RED because he's angry or is that because of that tea?" asked Citursella.

"I don't know….now he's turning green with blue spots." Said Jubileena.

Thankfully apologizes were made and the families were able to say their goodbyes to each other without the worries of something getting their face whomped in but now Zambi had another problem. He was turning colors AND hiccupping which only made the stares and points come at him faster.

The big man knew he was notorious and there were certain situations where he knew he could not avoid the gaze of onlookers but this was beyond that! The last time THIS many people had looked at him in such a manner was when….what when….!

That moment of arrival in the Kingdom all those years ago.

When he was knocked off that stupid boat.

And he had to swim five miles to shore…..

And then fell on Reese in total exhaustion when he finally made it.

HIC!

"Oh, goodness. It sounds like they are getting worse." Said Tira, now realizing that her anger and annoyance that her husband could be faking the aliment was wrong. She knew that Zambi could play a role in order to get out of something but to go through such calamity? No, he would never do that!

Crumbelina was just as worried as her mother, taking her father by the opposite hand as they both lead him down the street and passed The Candle Wick Café.

 _ **BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!**_

The three looked over at the café, hearing a familiar sound.

"Well, I suppose at least ONE mystery has been solved."

"You know, this is all your fault Koko…."

"How is it MY fault?!"

The Di Carmelos looked over, seeing the Orangeboar kart still set up in the middle of the square. Blanc was removing some of the decorations from the latest performance while his wife sat on a large barrel, reading the paper.

Gloyd on the other hand was turned the other way, head lowered for some reason.

What was HIS problem?

HIC!

Nothing could escape Kobacha's ears and the woman looked up, spying Zambi from afar.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she cried teasingly, pointing her skinny fingers up at him "SPOTTED YA!"

Crumbelina saw her father's face turn white and instead of a hiccup, the braying sound of a dying animal came from his mouth.

Not Kobacha.

HE DIDN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS!

Kobacha was kicking her thin legs in the air and laughing up a storm "Big Bad Zambi-Bi-Bi-Bi! I was wonderin' why tha ground was shakin' an' Bernie wasn't anywhere ta be found since he lost his-!"

"KOBACHA!" shouted Blanc "If you keep behaving like this we're all going to get into trouble! Gloyd is already in enough-!"

The boy said nothing, pulling his hat down over his head.

"Tha last thing we need to do is make anyone else uncomfortable!"

"It is fine, Blanc." Said Tira calmly "We've….we've just had a wild day."

"Why is Zambi-bi-bi turnin' colors?"

"KOBACHA."

Suddenly….

AN IDEA!

"Mr. Orangeboar. Mrs. Orangeboar."

The family of pumpkins looked down, the tiny caramel girl walking up to them.

"My father needs help."

"Um, with what, young lady?" asked Blanc.

"All day my father has braved through so much humiliation all in the name of…."

The girl looked back, her father hiccupping and turning a strange CLOUD-PATTERN.

"In that name of whatever he does…." The girl continued "But now? It is my turn to seek help for him."

Gloyd narrowed his eyes "An' what do ya think ya can do ta cure him, twist-head?"

Crumbelina stood on her tip-toes to face Gloyd, her chest puffed out.

"I believe that I, Crumbelina Di Carmelo, can SCARE the hiccups from my father!"

The two families stood silent….and then Gloyd erupted into laughter.

"PFFFFFFFFFFFT! HAHAHAHAHAHHA!"

"What is so funny, Orangeboar?"

The little mallow-crème tried to catch his breath, his cheeks glowing orange through his laughter "Oh, oh! Crumbles! I know ya scare people enough with that cookie-stalin' stare of yours! But REALLY?! Ya think ya can scare your dad!"

"HUSH BOY." Blanc glared, slapping the boy on the back of his head "You're in enough trouble….."

"Oh, like I'm tha only one who sent that picture around!"

Picture?

Crumbelina suddenly shoved her cell-phone DEEPER in her pocket.

"I know I can scare the hiccups from my father, Gloyd." declared Crumbelina "And in fact, I can do it in a manner using YOUR magic and use it better than you!"

Gloyd was nearly floored; Crumbelina was DARING to outdo HIM in MAGIC?

HOW DARE SHE!

"Crumbles, I would LOVE ta see ya try." The boy growled, trying to push the small Di Carmelo back "'Course, I would love ta see ya try ta break a smile without causin' you face to shatter but hey, we can't have everythin' can we?"

"Hey, give tha girl a chance." Smirked Kobacha "After all, ya know how good audience participation can be right, Pumpkin-Butt?"

"MOOOOOOOOOOM!"

Crumbelina gave a little bow towards Kobacha "Thank you ma'am. And I hope I can show great respect for your trade through my participation."

Tira and Zambi looked at each other, not sure what in the sweet world their daughter was planning for them but the little Di Carmelo huddled with the Orangeboars, all four whispering something to each other.

What? Really?

That sounds like a good idea.

But it doesn't have the piazza to it!

This is my first time but I do believe it should work.

And of course, Zambi hiccupped again,

The four then went into the kart, the vehicle turning and shifting into an even larger stage and *POOF!* chairs suddenly appeared under the two Di Carmelo parents, forcing them to sit down. The stage light popped on center, Gloyd, dressed in his best, facing the audience before twirling around, his cape billowing around him.

"LADIES AN' GENTLECANDIES!" the boy announced "Prepare for a special treat for we have a NEW magician joinin' us!"

An invisible crowd began to clap, Zambi and Tira looking around as suddenly the ghostly shadows of other candy people began to appear around them.

"She comes from the lands where tha caramel flows, where tha cookies crumbles. She has a gaze that can make even tha great three-horned Chocoal Beast quiver! She is tha one, tha ooooonleeeee-! CRUMBELINA DI CARMELO!"

The ghostly sweets began to clap again, Tira jabbing her big husband in the side to get him to join along.

And then Crumbelina appeared on stage.

Her usual outfit had been replaced by something more….magical, something to be expected considering the amount of costumes they had in their home.

What was she planning though?

HIC!

"It has come to my attention…." The girl began "That there is someone suffering from a rather bad affliction in our audience."

The audience gasped and turned, Zambi and Tira sitting in the middle of them.

"If that is the case, then it looks like it is time for ME to do something about that."

Crumbelina twisted her hands, a wand suddenly appearing.

"Sweet, sweet caramel, come to me now."

Suddenly, Zambi felt his chair shift under him. Without so much as a warning, the thing acted as if it had a life of its own and DASHED to the stage, the big man holding on for dear life as it landed on the stage, making him tumble out and hit the wooden floors hard.

And Crumbelina was not at all phased.

"Up."

Zambi felt as if something were pulling his arms up, straining to lift his heavy weight off the ground.

" _Aurrg! AURGH! I FORGOT HOW HEAVY THIS DOOF IS!"_

" _Kobacha!"_

"Now…" said Crumbelina "Let us get rid of those hiccups."

Behind the curtains, Gloyd was working the controls, making more lights and sparks fly as the caramel girl began her act.

This hiccups, they have gotten so bad

They are going to drive the entire household mad

Father please, maybe mother was right

We are curing these hiccups TONIGHT!

Zabaione was still hanging from the stage limply as smoke and sparks surrounded him, crackles and thunder roaring around him! It got bigger, bigger, LOUDER, LOUDER!

HIC.

"HICCUPS!" Crumbelina said, a look in her eyes that neither of her parents had ever seen "DISAPPEAR!"

And then-!

EXPLOSIONS!

The 'crowd' gasped but Tira was knocked over, looking at the stage as the cloud finally disappated and-!

And….

A hamster?

"HUH?!"

In Zabaione's place on the stage sat a tiny, chubby, white and grey hamster. One that was wearing the same irritated face as he always did.

*HIP.*

AND IT HAD THE HICCUPS.

Gloyd was CRYING from laughing so hard, Crumbelina looking at the creature on stage and the creature looked back at her.

"That…that wasn't supposed to happen."

By now, Gloyd was on the floor, tears streaming from his eyes "T-Try again?"

Might as well.

Crumbelina waved her wand again and-!

POOF!

The hamster was gone!

But nothing else had appeared.

"Daddy?"

Where was Zabaione?

Not behind the curtains, not behind the crowds.

"Daddy?"

He was gone.

He was really gone!

"Hold on…." The girl said "What did you two do with my father?"

"He was supposed to come back on stage." Said Blanc looking at the mark "But-!"

"Hey, hey! I know he's here!" shouted Kobacha as she jumped on the stage "I nearly threw my back out tryin' ta lift him up! He couldn't have gotten that far!"

"Are you telling me that you misplaced my husband?" Tira said, walking up to the stage.

"It is still part of the show, that is all." Blanc said, trying to keep things calm "He is here, he is here. I know it!"

"AAAAAAAAAW MAN!" laughed Gloyd "This is AWESOME! Now we can't be blamed for someone disappearin'! But hey, ya ARE a Di Carmelo, Crumbz! Makin' people disappear is what your family does best!"

 **AND THEN CRUMBELINA TACKLED GLOYD TO THE GROUND.**

Below, there was a tussle going on as eyes were all about looking for the missing Sugar Rush parent….but had they looked up they would have noticed a very large, very tired looking caramel man sitting atop the Orangeboar's kart, a little hamster in his hands.

The hamster hiccupped.

And so did Zabaione.


	5. Taffyta and the Sweet Shave P2

Taffyta and the Sweet Shave- Part Two

 _*Before all the calamity….*_

"Berlingots, where are you?!"

Malva's voice rocked the apartment as she busted the door down, those strong legs of her unstoppable.

"Mama, do you think he's here?" Taffyta asked, looking past her mother into the studio but the big strawberry woman was already gone, stomping up the steps of the apartment until she got to the bed room.

"BERNIE!"

" _Go away."_

Malva looked down, her ears sensing that the little muffled voice was coming from….

"Oh, are you SERIOUS?!"

Under the bed.

"You're acting like a CHILD! All of this over a MUSTACHE?!"

" _You know what my mustache means to me, Malva!"_ Bernie cried, Malva hearing his shoes moving against the carpet _"It was bad enough it was cut in such a way but to have it done in front of a CROWD like that?!"_

Without saying another word, Malva took hold of the edge of the bed and lifted it up with ease, Bernie huddled in the middle of the floor like some sort of mouse. He looked up at this wife for a moment or two before scowling at her.

"Don't start wreckin' tha place, now…."

"BERLINGOTS!"

The man tried to run but Malva was too fast for him, dropping the bed and grabbing him by his middle.

"Sit, sit, SIT! Sit your butt down!"

"NOT UNTIL I WRING MY HANDS AROUND BLANC'S SKINNY NECK!" the little man hissed in rage "If it wasn't for him of his homicidal family, I wouldn't-!"

"You do realize that means you'll have to go out in public again, right?"

Bernie turned as white as his hair, going limp in Malva's arms.

"No, no, no….I….I can NOT do that! I can NOT!"

"Then just please relax." The strawberry woman said, stroking her husband sadly on his head "Dear?"

"Y-yes, my bon-bon?"

"I'm sorry that this happened." The woman sighed "D-don't say that I don't know what it feels like to be ousted like that, in front of so many people, in front of so many ey-!"

"No, no! Don't you even compare the two!" Bernie said in shock, looking up at his wife "What happened to you?! All those years ago?!"

He got on his feet, pacing on the floor.

"Ooooh, I-I know….I know I hate this but what happened to you! I thank the heavens above that I am a big enough man, figuratively speaking of course, that those events did not cause me to fly into such a fit that Tobias WOULDN'T have forgiven me!"

Malva blushed brightly, turning her head away "You know…the more I think about it. The more I begin to realize MOST of your troubles would have never happened had they not been for me…."

"But darling!"

Unbeknownst to the two adults, a set of eyes and ears were watching them.

Down the hall Taffyta hid, her heart racing and her eyes wide to her parents' movements. They were deep inside their room but their shadows played out every move they made but what struck her the most was what they were saying.

Maybe they were too worried about each other to realize she was there but the more she heard, the more she began to wonder.

What were her parents going on about?

" _Papa? Mama?"_

Bernie moved into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. The eyesore of a mustache looked even BIGGER in his eyes now, the man feeling more and more embarrassed by each passing second.

"Oh! OH gobs, this looks AWFUL!"

"I should think so."

"DEAR!"

"Bernie, just shave it off and start anew." The woman purred as she approached her husband from behind "There is nothing at all wrong with starting over again so-!"

"I-I know I can but-!"

"But what?"

Bernie fidgeted, turning left and right over and over to look at his now greatly opposing sides. After a few moments he let out a defeated growl, flopping himself on the plush pink rug on the floor.

"Don't do this."

"You know WHY I grew a mustache? WHY I enjoyed having one?"

"Because you like having caterpillars on your lips?" teased Malva.

"BECAUSE THAT WAS MY CHANGE!"

The big woman nearly hit her head on the ceiling at the shout, not used to Bernie being so….so HEATED.

"A-Ah, what was that dear?"

"CHANGE? Is that what we are talking about?" Bernie growled, going back to the bedroom and flopping himself on the bed "This….this WAS my change! It was the change I had that made me feel less like Candicus' flunky and-!"

The man stopped, covering his face with his hands.

"Oooooooh, I didn't mean to make it sound like YOU and Taffyta haven't brought joy to my life but-!"

Taffyta slipped down even lower to the ground, her heart beating as she listened in. She had heard of this man before; this CANDICUS. He was but a passing name on the lips of many in the kingdom and oddly enough whenever he was mentioned, Bernie was always the butt end of comments about him, sometimes even Malva and sometimes even herself but she never got it. All she knew was that this Candicus was connected to her father SOMEHOW even if her questions towards him were never answered.

She would ask, she would ask BOTH her parents but the replies were always the same; never ask. Never ask about him.

But how long could she go on without asking? She was nine going on ten! She had the right to know what was going on if this all tied into her family so tightly.

"When I married you…."

Taffyta turned, shuffling on the floor to hear her parents better.

Be stealthy.

Use those moves Malva taught you!

"When I married you….it was the happiest day of my life, Malva…." Bernie began "I was happy but…."

"Yes?"

"But every time I woke up, every moment I looked at myself in the mirror I didn't see a new man. I didn't see a loving husband for you. I just saw HIM; the lil RUNT who helped Candicus. His little trained circus monkey."

Malva looked worryingly at her husband, taking his little hands into her own "Dear, how could you think such things about yourself?"

"Malva, LOOK AT ME!" the man blustered as he got up "I-! No matter how much I try to SAY I'm a good person, I can't change that fact! I'm….I'm still his little helper! I saw that EVERY DAY when I woke up and…and I felt ashamed knowing you had to look at that ugly mug as well."

"Ugly?" Malva said with a soft voice.

"I know it sounds silly but that's why I grew the mustache, why I cut my hair like this….I didn't look like HIM anymore. I looked….I looked like someone new, I felt like someone knew and more than that, I felt like I could take on all the stupidity that people were throwing at me because of all that circus bull-roar!"

Bernie MUST have been mad if he said something like that!

"And with half the 'stache gone….it feels like he's coming back." Bernie continued "I don't want to see that man anymore!"

"Oh posh, Berlingots!" Malva said tartly, patting the man on his head "A-all this worry about your looks! You sound worse than ME when we met!"

"I just did it because I didn't want anyone else trying to drag YOU through the mud. I didn't want them to drag Taffyta down either."

Taffyta felt her heart jump as her father mentioned her. The more she heard, the more awful she began to feel, especially when she realized that out of everyone there, SHE was the first one to laugh at her own father. To see him in such a position, her proud snarky dad, made her laugh. He usually found himself in situations like these but most of the time he always had something to say back, always picked himself onto his feet and strode off as if he did not care but this time?

THIS TIME?

This time, Bernie looked as if he had been taken down greatly and it appeared to have less to do with just the fact that his mustache had been cut but more to what the PURPOSE of the mustache was.

He was HIDING.

Berlingots Muttonfudge was hiding.

And it appeared that he was hiding for HER.

" _Daddy…."_ The little strawberry girl whispered, crawling to her own room and shutting the door.

"Bernie…."

The little man looked up, Malva taking him into her arms and holding him tight.

"Why do you try so hard to be a jack-ass?"

"HEY!"

"When I know you're really just so sweet?"

Bernie slumped in her hold again, his eyes shut tightly.

"If there is anyone who is sweet here, it's you and Taffyta."

"Hmmm?"

"Who was the one who came in and didn't try to make me feel bad about where I came from?"

"Y-You did the same for me." Malva stammered, her own hard cover starting to slip off "I-I mean….that night we met. What you said….."

"If it were just US, Malva…if it were just us, I guess I wouldn't feel as bad? But this is a vast kingdom and I have so many people watching my every step. If I go out of line it not only reflects ME but it reflects you and our daughter! I don't want her to pay for the screw-ups I made in my life! It's not fair!"

"You don't think I feel the same?" Malva said, a bit of anger in her voice "Do you not think that I have felt anger with the things they have said? Why do you think I have taught her to 'dance'? What if we were gone? What if someone were to try to-!"

"Don't make me think about it!" said Bernie, feeling worried and flustered "I….I keep having nightmares! That she wound up in Candicus' hands and-!"

"Berlingots…."

He looked up, Malva looking down at him in worry.

"Baby….maybe we need to just sleep on it."

Bernie tugged the remaining side of his mustache, feeling every ounce of energy drained from him.

"Maybe you're right…." He groaned "And…and maybe then I'll figure out what to do with this."

"Just remember this." Malva smiled as she kissed the chubby strawberry man on his forehead "Mustache or no mustache, you're still my cutie strawberry sweet."

On any other night Bernie would have had a snarky retort to give his wife but this night?

"Y-Yes…."

He just couldn't will it up.

Meanwhile, Taffyta had found herself looking in the mirror in her own room. The way her father had gone on about his own looks, his own self-esteem, was starting to make her think of her own. She looked at the mop of white hair on her hair, remembering how hard she was trying to make it curl and puff like Malva's but it just wasn't doing it, making her look like a shaggy pile of whipped cream more than anything else.

Dark brows like her dad.

Big pink nose like her dad.

There were only a few traces that even HINTED that Malva was her mother but they were not the things that she wanted the most and yet, she managed to push it all aside just like Berlingots had, acting as if nothing could get her down nor that nothing about her bothered her.

And she was doing fine with it.

Until…..

Maybe she and her father had even more in common than she thought.

She suddenly couldn't stand what she was looking at in the mirror, remembering some of the things that had been said to her.

 _I wonder if Nuthinfudge dyes her hair like her daddy!_

 _Laffyta will turn out just like her dad!_

 _One rotten family, one rotten family!_

"Shake it away, shake it away…." The girl mumbled to herself "Remember, stay sweet. Stay sweet…."

The girl opened her phone, looking through the collection of photo until she found it, the snapshot from the event. It was blurred slightly but it had captured EVERYTHING; the moment he had fallen, the look of horror on his face and the very frame the clump of mustache was sent flying.

It was right there before her on her phone.

What was she to do with it?

…..

A few button pushes.

C-Butt?

A few moments of waiting….

*Bing!*

 _Yes?_

 _Had a bad night. Don't know what to do._

A few seconds later.

 _On roof! Meet me there =3_

Thank goodness the café and the studio shared the same building. In a few moments, Taffyta had found herself on the roof of the place, Candlehead already there and looking blissfully at the stars.

"Aren't they pretty?"

"Candlehead?"

The other girl looked over, her eyes blinking brightly "Yeah, Taff?"

The strawberry girl looked down, twirling a finger through her white curls "Um, I gotta picture. Something that I'm not sure I should keep."

"Oh, is it a NICE picture?" Candlehead smiled "Those are great! Ya should keep those since they can make ya feel better when you're down in tha dumps an-!"

"No, it's nowhere near as good as something like that." Taffyta interrupted "It….it's about my dad."

"Oh." Candlehead said. She looked to the right of her and then to the left "Is….is it a GOOD picture about your dad?"

"Candles, have your parents ever told you anything about how they met?"

"Um, not really."

"Have they mentioned some guy named Candicus?"

Candlehead thought for a moment "Candicus? Candicus?"

"Yeah."

"Weeeeell…..I have heard him MENTIONED I guess."

"And?" Taffyta said, looking as if she were ready to jump in the air from the answer "D-Did they tell you who he was or what he had to do with my dad or-?!"

"He always sounded like a stomach-ache ta me…." Said Candlehead "So I never asked 'em about 'im!"

Taffyta felt deflated, hoping that as much as her father argued with HERS there would be something overhead by the candle-headed girl but of course things were not going to come that easy.

"Taffyta, what was this about a picture?"

A picture?

Not anymore…..

"Ya know what?" the girl frowned, going through the files on the phone again "Forget it! That thing is gettin' ERAS-!"

 _ **SHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-POW!**_

Both girls screamed as out in the distance a loud EXPLOSION rocked the area, a few dogs barking from the noise.

"GLOOOOOOOOOOOYD!"

"But DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD! I didn't set 'em off in tha kart this time!"

"My phone!" Taffyta screamed once she realized it had flown out of her hands and down the narrow alley of the buildings "AURGH! I hope it didn't break!"

Both girls ran down the stairs as fast as they could, Taffyta searching everywhere for the pink mobile.

"Where is it, where is it, where is-?!"

"Taff!" Candlehead cried out in jubilation "I FOUND IT!"

Taffyta hopped over to the other girl faster than a mongoose, her phone clutched in her hands.

"Thank you, C-Butt! THANK YOU!"

The device was a little scuffed from the fall but to both girls' delight it had not broken.

"Thing is tougher than it looks…." Said Taffyta, wiping off the screen "I just hope-!"

Wait a moment.

When she had dropped her phone, it wasn't on this screen.

The girl inspected her phone again, noticing that there was a long chain of message SENT from her phone….

"W-wait, what?!"

Only to have it vibrate a second later with more messages coming back to her!

"Don't tell me…." She gasped "DON'T TELL ME-!"

*PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!*

Candlehead looked, her own phone vibrating. She opened it only to look in shock at the screen "WOW! Was THIS the photo you were talking about?!"

And with that, Taffyta fell to the ground like a piece of rock candy.


	6. The Yokans The Zakis and Chestnuts P1

The Yokans, The Zakis and Chestnuts Part One

"Now, I will tell you!" blared a voice on the tv screen "You had better let this farmers have back their land! What SCOUNDREL are you to rob them of their birthright and transform it into this?!"

Such powerful words had never been spoken before….too bad it was a movie.

"MOOOOOOOM." Whined a little tea racer, rolling about the seats of the limo "When is dad gonna get back."

Hanami smiled, pulling her little daughter closer "You know your father. Everywhere he goes, he has to get an audience."

"Couldn't he have done this before we left? I mean, it feels like I've been in this limo forever!"

"Then why didn't you go into the café with your dad?" asked Sakura's mother "And you could have picked out your lunch once you got a full view of-!"

 _ ***KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!***_

A massive explosion rocked the entire area, both mother and daughter screaming in shock as they looked out the window. Smoke was billowing from the Candle Wick Café but through the murk and darkness, the two could make out a few figures.

YOU ACTUALLY LET HER DO THIS DANGO?!

SHE SAID SHE COULD!

"Back in the car, back in the car…." Hanami said, rolling the windows up as fast as she could.

"Do you want me to check on the master, miss?" asked the driver.

"NO. No, no, no. NO. Let's….let's just wait."

Sakura ducked under the seat; how embarrassing could this get?

About an hour later, with many more complaints about hunger and boredom, Dango finally returned looking even more proud than he usually did.

"Mah goodness, I SURE do love that café!"

"What did you do this time?" Hanami sighed, shaking her head.

"Why m'dear! What makes ya think I caused any trouble?"

"That EXPLOSION was a good enough indication that something DID happen…." The fox-like lady sweet said "And as Sakura said, you had us waiting here for such a long time. You could have phoned in the order."

"But had I done that-!" the man smiled, moving closer to his wife's face "I would have NEV'AH gotten such a deal on everythin' we needed! Now we can FINALLY take that trip down ta tha beach an' get this shoot done!"

"FINALLY!" moaned Sakura, sitting up as the brightness returned to her eyes "So what's this movie about daddy?"

"Well, it takes place onna BEACH so that should give ya a clue or two, lil lady." The man said proudly "HA HA HA, maybe this time I get ta play an ocean king or maybe even? I'll get ta replay one of those dashin' heroes from those stories I always read ya!"

"Like the one about the warrior who saves the mermaid princess?" Sakura said, sparkles in her eyes "Or maybe the one about the brave fighter who saved his entire village from the seven-headed dragon! The one who was as big as an entire country!"

Dango prepared to say yet another long string of words but Hanami stopped him, smirking.

"Don't you think you're a little….MATURE to play those roles?" she joked "By this age, I'd think you'd be more suited to play the DRAGON than the man who fights him."

Dango cheeks blushed, Sakura giggled.

Oh, Big Dango.

"Hanami. DE-AH." The man said poshly "Ya say those things but if I rememb'ah CORRECTLY, if was those types of moves that drew ya towards me."

"HA HA. WHAT?" the woman snorted "No, KONI liked those stupid things. The only reason WE got together is because I had to sew yours pants up when ya split them trying to get back into the palace after being locked out."

Dango went even BRIGHTER, his eyes shut tight "Woman, that was not it at all!"

"He tried to scale the fence after someone stole his pass."

"Some lil white-haired VARMINT by the name of B-!"

"Can you imagine this BIG, FAT-HEAD trying to climb a fence?" Hanami cooed as she took her husband's face and smushed his cheeks together "This big tanuki-face? I was just coming out of then Lady Milka's chambers when I heard a scream and low and behold! He was wearing UNDERWEAR with raccoons printed on them!"

"HANAMI!" Dango roared, pulling back "An' ya wonder why our daughter behaves tha way she does?! Goodness, de'ah, maybe I was right ta have little Miss Hanabi back there give her lessons!"

"What, to learn how to make those mint pillow cookies of hers?" Sakura asked hopefully "I LOVE the flavors and the colors? OH, they inspire me so much for ideas!"

Dango stopped, looking down at his little daughter. As strict as he tried to be with her he just could not stay mad at her. He couldn't stay mad at his wife either. She stuck out her tongue and went back to her reading, the big man chuckling softly.

"Oh, you two….." he sighed "In tha end? I'd just be happy with ya by mah side."

The journey continued on as the limo and the rest of the crew road down the thick forested roads of the Kingdom of Sugar Rush. Sakura looked out the windows, taken in by the beauty of nature, seeing the city disappear before being swallowed up by trees.

"You like things like this, daddy?"

Dango cleared his throat "Wh-What was that dear?"

"I said, do you like the country side?"

"O-Oh, why yes." He responded awkwardly "L-Love it."

"But you like the sea better, don't you?" Sakura smiled.

"PART of tha sea, child…." The man said, arching a brow "As crystal blue as tha water can be, there is one thing that lurks inside that I just can not stand! Can not stand at all!"

"And what would THAT be?"

"Why it's-!"

 _ ***PA-BLAM!***_

The family inside the limo gave a good scream as the vehicle bounced about, coming to a clumsy stop in the road.

"Land sakes!" shouted Dango, holding onto his wife and child "What in tha world was THAT?!"

The group got out of the limo, the driver looking around to see that the tires were punctured.

"Oh gracious…." Sighed the candy-driver "They're EXTRA spiky this year."

"What is?" demanded Dango "What's spiky an' what stopped us?"

"Chestnuts." Said the driver, picking up the large spiked nuts. Dango said a few choice words under his breath, looking about defeated.

"An' I shudda KNOWN about this time of year an' path! Darn it!"

Sakura looked down, never having seen chestnuts like these before. They were larger than the ones planted at the family estate and their spiky covering looked powerful enough indeed to go through a few tires.

In fact, they DID!

"Even tha crew truck is blown out?!" gasped Dango "Do ya KNOW how many miles we have left ta go?! Do ya expect us ta WALK ta tha ocean?!"

"Dear, you're going to scare EVERY animal out here…." Hanami said, trying her best to calm her husband down "We can always call a tow truck."

"It'll take a while…" said one of the crew members "Plus with all the equipment in back and the risks on the roads? We're gonna hafta detour it back, take another route to make sure everything is safe."

"And what about our schedule?" growled Dango "We can't afford to lose time! Ya know we're on a budget."

"I'm sorry sir, but we're gonna haft ta call this day a bust. We'll try to pick up tomorrow but-!"

"UUUURG! I cannot believe this, I just can NOT believe this!" the big man fumed "All I wanted ta do was spend a few days out an' get mah family ta that ocean for a shoot an' NOW-?!"

"DANGO!"

The big man stopped, Hanami looking at him crossly.

"Y-Yes, dear?"

"I'm sure you are familiar with this path…."

"W-What was that, dear?"

"Dango, look around."

The dango-themed man stopped, looking about the forest until he saw a sign up ahead. He brushed off the leaves, his eyes widening as he read the script written upon it.

"Oh, don't tell me-!"

"It's the best thing we can do."

"But honey, it's a three mile walk!"

"We've done longer walks before." Said Hanami, taking her travel bag out of the limo "And besides, you want to get out in nature correct?"

"If I had known we'd be crossin' THIS path, I'd-!"

"Not another word, Dango." The woman said, tossing his bag at his chest roughly before leading Sakura "Come along dear, we'll be at our lodgings soon enough."

Sakura looked up in curiosity, "Mom, where are we going?"

While the crew took care of the vehicle troubles, the three Yokan members made their way through the woods. Sakura was enjoying EVERY moment of it but she made certain that her kimono was not mussed with mud of dirt. The trees covered everything like a green canopy, the colors setting off a whirlwind of ideas for her next design in her head.

"I'll make….a fairy kei compilation!" the girl thought to herself, looking at a pair of blueberry warblers in their nest "With plenty of earthy tones and-!"

HISS!

She gasped, looking at the log before her to see an ENORMOUS spider posed with its legs up.

"AH!"

"Sakura?!"

The girl let out a high scream as she ran towards her mother "Spider!"

Sakura might have liked nature….just not EVERY creature within it. Dango looked at the creature and with a swipe of his hand, shooed it away.

"Go on, shoo!"

"Are you okay?" Hanami asked her little daughter, the girl panting.

"W-What kinda spider WAS that?! It was big, so so big!"

"Well, its gone now…." Her mother said calmly but Sakura had lost her cool at the sight of the arachnid, the fight so much that she was looking down on the ground to make sure it hadn't gone up her legs.

"Oh, I can't see them! They blend in so well with the ground!"

"Have you father take you on his shoulders then." Hanami smiled but as she turned back she noticed her husband had fallen back.

WAY back.

"DANGO."

"I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"I have mah reasons NOT to go!"

"So you would rather spend the night outside? OKAY! Hope it doesn't rain!"

"Hanami!"

"Dango, move your raccoon-butt over here!"

"…..FOX-BUTT!"

"Ignore him, he's pouting." Hanami scoffed, walking ahead. The trek went on without any more arguments until the group got to a clearing. Sakura saw a large strip of land that had been cleared out, the place surrounded by wooden fences and a large pound.

Wait, this couldn't be-!

"AUNTIE KONI'S INN?!"

"See, I knew you'd remember it!"

"But-! But mom!" Sakura protested "I don't wanna go in there!"

"And why not?"

"Because, MINTY!" Sakura pouted "She's big an' mean an' she always makes fun of my dresses an' ears!"

"C'mon, your cousins aren't that bad. Not bad at all."

"OF COURSE NOT….." moaned Dango "Not with a father like GASHI, they are not!"

"Dango, listen here." Hanami warned "We're here because it's an emergency and we should be lucky if there are enough rooms in this place for them to even take us in! I don't want YOU or SAKURA to make a single misstep while we're here, got it? This is FAMILY! We don't need to break it up!"

Dango gave his wife an annoyed glare "Why of course not dear….why in tha world would ya even THINK that I could cause trouble HERE?"

The three walked up to the inn.

And then the hellos were made.

"HANAMI!" cried the younger sister, so shocked to see Hanami appear out of nowhere "What-?! What are you doing here?"

"Car trouble." Hanami said, hugging her little sister "We were on our way to a shoot when our tires got 'chestnutted'….."

"We keep tellin' people to watch out for those things." The younger of the mothers smiled "But of coure you know the kids and Gashi. Those four have been collecting 'em since they went into season but they make for wonderful snacks!"

"We must try them then. It's been such a long time since we've both roasted chestnuts together. Remember when we used to do that?"

"You mean how you used to burn them?" laughed Koni.

"And you used to cry?" followed Hanami.

Dango rolled his eyes and looked away; darn it, why of all places they had to get stranded near did it have to be THIS inn?

"Koni?"

The younger of the sisters looked down the hall, a large clattering of feet echoing close "Down here, hun!"

"Man, ya won't believe tha haul we found!" laughed a rather skinny candy-man, his three daughters following him "We'll have PLENTY'A chestnuts for the guest to enjoy but OH-!"

He cried out once he saw DANGO glaring down at him, the bag of sweet nuts falling to the ground.

"Ah, DAD!" said the daughter in green "Those things are sharp an'- SAKURA!"

STARE DOWN

The thinner of the two men seemed to falter, not knowing what to say before his brother-in-law but Dango didn't feel like wasting his time.

"Gashi."

"A-Ah, hem!" the other man responded, standing up straight and adjusting his glasses "D-Dango. I….I, heh, wasn't expectin' ya."

"Well, we didn't EXPECT ta have chestnut troubles." The bigger man replied rather coldly, Hanami jabbing him in the side. From the way he had spoken, one would have thought that Dango believed Gashi left the chestnuts there.

"Don't you dare."

"So, why don't we get you your rooms!" Konipetio clapped her hands.

"Are you sure there is enough room? I mean it looks so busy."

"We ALWAYS have room for FAMILY!" smiled Koni, pushing her own girls near their cousin "C'mon ladies, let's get things ready!"

Ready?

Of the three, Minty looked less than pleased to see Sakura.

The biggest of the girls glared at her cousin but the little tea girl glares back, neither one of them wanting the other to win. Sticky and Torvald just stood by, acting as commentators to the entire thing.

"So, how long do you think they can make it without killing each other?" asked Torvald. Sticky whimpered, shaking her head.

"Oh, oh! Why can't they be friends? I mean, we're family!"

Family yes.

Friends?

NOT AT ALL.

"Um, excuse me girls…." Gashi said, looking to find his wife "I-I have ta talk to your mother for a moment."

Gashi rushed up to Koni, pulling her aside from her sister.

"OH!"

"Sweetie?"

"Gashi, what's wrong? Ya look like you've lost your best bug-catchin' net!"

"Is…is this such a good idea?" the thin man asked, looking about nervously.

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean…ya know how heated Dango can get! No matter what we do, there's always an argument about somethin'!"

"Oh, we can handle it." Koni smiled confidently "Its not like I'm used ta drama poppin' up ANYWAY. You know MY side of the family."

"Konipetio!"

"Look, if it worries ya THAT much I'll have your back. Ya know I do!"

"Wait, don't take this ta mean I'm SCARED of Dango! B-Because I'M NOT!" Gashi protested.

"Then what is this?" Koni asked slyly, poking her husband on the nose.

"L-Like I said, ya know I don't do well with confrontations an' as fussy as HE is, we-!"

"Is everything okay in there?" Hanami asked, seeing her sister huddled with the nervous looking Gashi.

"Ah, things are just fine sis! Tell Dango we'll have everything ready in a few."

The older of the sisters waved as she returned to the front of the inn, Dango looking miffed as usual. She tugged his ear "Don't start anything."

"Why mah dear, what would make ya think THAT?"

It didn't take long for Koni to get her sister's room in order and it took even LESS time for the two to go off on their own, both women going about and laughing at the excitement that had taken place in their lives since they had both 'settled' though considering where they lived they had HARDLY settled. With their mothers gone, it was only daughters and fathers left and neither one seemed to want to talk to the other.

Dango didn't at all like to be in Gashi's presence and the poor inn-keeper KNEW it. It felt as if an entire HOUSE were pressing on Gashi as Dango looked at him and as for the kids?

"So….what are ya doin, PRINCESS?" huffed Minty, watching Sakura get one of her many cameras from her bag. The tea racer frowned, shuffling a few back into the bag.

"I just wanted to go out and take some pictures." She shot back "Why? Does that BOTHER you or somethin'?"

"Oh, I didn't know PRINCESSES actually like goin' out an' getting' dirty!"

"I am NOT-!" Sakura stopped, knowing that Minty was trying to drag her into "Ya know, not EVERYONE likes to roll around in the mud like YOU do, MINTZ."

"What's that SUPPOSED ta mean?!"

"Ya know EXACTLY what it means, Minty Zaki." Sakura said with slight arrogance "You think that unless EVERYONE rough houses like you, they're not strong enough right?"

"Well, let's see how tough ya are." Minty laughed "Maybe once I through ya in the POND you'd-!"

"Do ya wanna see the ducks?!" Torvald cut in, pulling her sister away "There are so may this time of year!"

"Y-Yes, and frogs too!" said Sticky as she went with Sakura "You can take a good look at them!"

The four girls then went on the nature trail but they were broken into two, Torvald staying back with Minty while Sticky stayed with her cousin. The other two sisters knew nothing good would come from either girls if they continued to fight but things had always been like this. Ever since they were young, Minty had just never seemed to enjoy the company of Sakura but they on the other hand didn't at all mind. Sticky and Torvald loved to hang out with both but sadly they just could not, not with the animosity between both girls.

"Minty, why can't ya be nice ta Sakura?" asked Torvald "She's our cousin."

"SO?"

"So, she's family an' she just wants ta have fun with us!"

"That prissy-spoiled tea-cake?" huffed Minty "I'd rather play with my own BOOGERS! She's not better than that ACTUAL Princess! Remember when SHE came down here?"

"Yes, but-!"

Back with Sakura and Sticky, a similar conversation was taking place.

"Sakura…."

"Sorry, Stix. I just can't do it."

"But Minty can be nice once you get to know her!"

"She HAS to be nice to YOU! She's your sister! But every time I show up, she has to push me around just because she's older than everyone! It's not fair!"

The girls finally got to their destination, all four looking about at the animals and other things they could find. Even though she was a city-girl, Sakura LOVED playing in the forest and seeing the streams and trees was such a much needed break from all the noise in the village. She had the help of her cousins to lead the way, Torvald and Sticky showing them a new plant or showing her where deer and other creatures lived.

Sakura wasn't going to miss this for the world, taking snap-shots every chance she got.

"I wanna take this leaf home!" she cried happily, finding a large oak leaf, one that was as nearly as big as her head "Hey Sticky!"

"Yeah?"

"PON-PON!" Sakura grinned, putting the leaf on her head and making her little fingers look like antlers "Now I am a DEER!"

The marshmallow girl giggled sweetly at her cousin "Pon!"

Minty just looked over but after a while she couldn't keep her anger up, not when she was someplace she ENJOYED.

Maybe it was best that she did mellow out.

"Hey, Sakura…."

The tea girl looked over, seeing her cousin approaching her "Yeah?"

"Um, do ya think-?"

Suddenly Minty stopped, her eyes wide and frozen.

"Minty, Minty what is it?"

"SPIDER!"

Now SAKURA was the one who was frozen.

"Whoa! There is a HUGE spider on that leaf!" Minty pointed, moving closer to take the thing off "Ah, just hold still for a sec an'-!"

 _ **KIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**_

Every animal in the forest broke for the hills at THAT scream.

"Sakura?"

"SPIDER?!"the tea girl shrieked, hopping up and down "SPIDER?! SPIDER! SPIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"

"Woah, I think she's gonna fly ta tha moon as much as she's jumpin'!"

This was no joke; Sakura was TERRIFIED of the very thought of a spider in her hair and before Minty had so much as a chance of helping her, she tore off back to the inn.

"What…was THAT?" Sticky said, looking wide eyed.

Minty was just as surprised….but she was also just as inspired.

"Heh, so that's it?"

Sakura ran past EVERYONE as she made her way back to the inn, rushing to the bathroom and running her hair under the water.

"Get out, get out, get OUT!" she cried, scared that the spider might have gone past her hair. What if….WHAT IF IT HAD GONE INTO HER EARS?!

"Ew, ew, EWWWWWWW!" she mewled in disgust "Wanting nothing more than to throw herself in the closet but who knew; there could be more spiders in there!

Sakura began to feel terribly itchy, feeling as if spiders were all over the place. She scratched her arms and her legs but quickly dove under the covers of the futons, the towel wrapped around her head.

"I tell ya, this just isn't tha place ta be."

"Dango, don't you dare."

"But it's true Hanami!" Big Dango growled, opening the sliding door to their room "If it's not ONE thing, than its another! I like your lil sister fine an' well! She is a true lady but that husband of hers!"

"There is NOTHING wrong with Gashi." Hanami interrupted, looking at her husband angrily "HONESTLY, Dango. Why do you dislike him so much? He's been nothing but kind since we got here and he's done everything that he's could to make sure YOU'RE happy!"

"I would be a lot happier if he took control of those rough-housing' girls…." The big man growled, sitting down hard on the floor "That MINTY one always seems ta stir up trouble whenever we-!"

"YAAAUGH!"

"GAH!"

Both Dango and Hanami jumped when they saw a little bump in the middle of the futon, Dango pulling away to see Sakura rolled up in the extra blankets and towel.

"Wait! Where is everyone!?"

"Sakura?"

"Ah, daddy?" the girl said, finally managing to unravel the towel.

"What are ya doin' back here? I thought ya were out playin' with your cousins."

"There are too many spiders out there!" Sakura shivered "One of them got on this oak leaf I was playing with and-!"

The girl shook her head, clenching her fist.

"Auuuurgh, why does it have to be SPIDERS?! Its not like I can ESCAPE them, they're everywhere!"

"Darling, it is alright." Hanami said in a comforting tone "Everyone has something they fear so it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Daddy doesn't fear anything." Sakura said sadly.

Hanami just looked at her daughter….and erupted into laughter.

"DEAR."

"As I said darling, everyone has something that makes them scared. And as time goes on, we have to learn to face those fears. It's not easy and not everyone can get over those fears so quickly but the important thing?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Is that we cannot let it RULE us…." Hanami said, her smile so warm.

"Did you have a fear growing up?" asked the tea girl.

"I had a few…." Hanami said, making herself comfortable on the futon "Ask you auntie, she'll tell you everything because I KNOW she can't keep her big mouth shut. Just like SOMEONE ELSE I KNOW!"

"Hanami, please…."

"And papa?"

Dango looked down, clearing his throat "M-Maybe some other time, I will tell ya."

"Not fair, Dango."

"B-But your mother is right, sweetie. You cannot let your fears overtake ya for when fear begins ta rule ya, it can turn into HATE! An' HATE is tha thing that tears good men down, hate is tha thing that crumbles empires, destroys kingdoms, tears brother apart from br-!"

 _ **KIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**_

"What?! WHAT IS IT?!"

Sakura said nothing as she leapt up and bolted from the room, leaving her parents stunned.

"Honey, what's wrong?!" said Hanami as she raced after the girl but Dango stayed behind, looking at the thin paper-walls to see the shadow of what looked to be….

"A SPIDER?"

He slid the panel back, finding that it was nothing more than a smaller cut out and a flashlight but the finger prints were already there big man scowling as he looked down the little corridor to see a familiar pair of green and yellow shoes racing away.

" _ **GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASHI!"**_

Dango already KNEW who the culprit was and at that very moment she was making her escape, her sisters following her.

"Minty, why did you do that?!" asked a stunned Sticky.

"Did ya see tha look on her face?!" laughed the eldest of the triplets.

"Yes, I did an' I still don't understand why ya did that ta her!" said Torvald "Who do ya think ya are? GLOYD?!"

"Gloyd WISHES he could pull a stunt like that!" laughed Minty but her laughter was cut short at the sight of a TALL figure.

One with big sweet, ANGRY eyes.

"MAMA!"

"Mom?" Minty said, looking up to see Konipetio looking down at all three "….Uh-oh."

The family gathered in the meeting room, the doors shut tight to ensure the other guest at the inn could not hear but to say the least it was a move put in vain.

DO YA KNOW WHAT SHE DID, GASHI?!

YES, AN' I'LL DO SOMETHIN' ABOUT IT DANGO!

WHEN?!

The two fathers were arguing so loudly, the smaller candy guest peeking around the corner just to hear and see their shadows moving about behind the doors.

"Wow, do ya think this is part of a movie?" asked one candy guest.

"If it is, do ya think we'll get paid for bein' extras?" asked another.

"It was just a joke!" said Minty defending herself "How was I supposed ta know that tha lil princess would run like that!"

"Minty!" said Koni "That is no way to talk to your cousin or ANYONE!"

"You KNOW I hate SPIDERS!" growled Sakura "It wasn't a JOKE! You did that on purpose!"

"So what if I did?! Maybe if ya weren't so girlie-!"

"Maybe if you weren't so ROUGH!"

"Girls, girls, STOP!" shouted Hanami "Nothing good is going to come if you keep fighting like this!"

"But it's HER fault!" both girl said, pointing to one another.

"See! I TOLD YA!" echoed their fathers.

This….was starting to brew into a large problem.

The two sisters knew that their children and husbands had their differences but after so long it couldn't go on any longer. Years had passed since the four had met and the rocky events that had transpired from that was something they all wanted to move past. But how COULD they when even their daughters didn't seem to get along?

Hanami and Konipetio knew what they were going to have to do.

"Boys, boys! HUSH UP!" yelled Hanami, slamming her hands on the table "Goodness, from the sound of things in here you'd think we're stirring up the next war here or something!"

"Well, darlin'." Dango huffed "War WOULD happen und'ah THIS household considerin' how explosive people act!"

"Are ya insinuatin' that I'M tha hot-head?" Gashi gasped "I'm not tha one screamin' so loud ya can hear me from SPACE!"

"YOU'RE DOIN' IT RIGHT NOW!"

The argument began to pick up once more, fathers and children jabbering on and on until.

 _ **FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!**_

" _Heh, still got it Koni."_

"Alright you guys…." Koni began "If we're gonna stayin' together for tha forseeable future we are NOT gonna behave like this!"

"But mom-!"

"NOT NOW MINTY!" the mint mother scolded "This isn't tha first incident where you've gone too far but I'm sure gonna make sure its tha last!"

The eldest of the triplets scowled at her mother, crossing her arms across her chest "O-Oh, yeah? What are ya gonna do?"

"Minty, what have we told ya about talkin' back to your mother like that?"

"She'll find out…" said Koni "We're ALL gonna find out."

The family looked around nervously, Koni standing before them like a tower of power.

What did the mother of mint have planned?

"C'mon everyone. We're goin' out ta get chestnuts."


	7. The Royal Von Schweetz P1

The Royal Von Schweetz Part One

Upon on a high hill is a giant, glistening castle.

This is where the Von Schweetz live.

The Von Schweetz were the ruler of the Sugar Rush Kingdom, a family line that spanned many generations since the foundation of the land in the Sweet World.

There is King Tobias-Lerone; he is known as a kind, understanding king but his worry often causes him to make brash choices before his mind catches up with him. His wife, Milka Von Schweetz, was known to be much more outgoing and loud. To many, it often felt that SHE was in charge of the kingdom but for many others….

There was a split in how they felt about the Royals.

The two had a daughter, a little girl by the name of Vanellope. Like everyone in her family, Vanellope was used to being treated with the high-life, so many hours of the day dedicated to ensuring that the little Princess was always happy, always content, always bright and cheerful. She was doted on by her mother, looked after by her father, it seemed that little Vanellope had EVERYTHING.

But did she really?

"Where is Rancis?" Vanellope asked her assistant, Sour Bill, tartly "I expected him here nearly an hour ago."

Bill sighed "I have no idea where Mister Flubbutters is but he usually arrives with his father. Maybe he is off with this mother today?"

"An' he didn't tell me?" the Princess pouted "That is SOOO like the lil curly-Q!"

Of all the children in the kingdom, Rancis Flubbutters was the only one that Vanellope seemed to bound with the most, if only because he was the only other child in the kingdom who was ALLOWED into the palace at any given time. His father, Reese Flubbutters, was the assistant to the King and his mother, Shelly, was a world renowned explorer. To say the least, Milka wanted to make certain that her daughter was only around the BEST of Sugar Rush but because of this, her list was rather short. The result of this?

Very few people for the Princess to play with.

She didn't seem to mind however as per her mother's own wishes she made certain to 'watch' and 'observe' the other children and just like her mother she did not like what she saw.

To her, the other Sugar children were too dirty, too noisy, too…UNROYAL!

"Rancis is the only one who understands….." the young girl said to herself, making her way to the Royal library "But he'll understand what a butt-kickin' is if he doesn't get here."

As it turned out, Rancis was going to be FAR later for the 'play-date' than the girl had hoped. She stayed in the library for much longer than she wanted, bored out of her SKULL. There were many books around her but she found them BORING, none of them providing her with the entertainment that she so wanted.

"Maybe if I go to the gardens….."

The little Princess walked out to the gardens, hearing and seeing a few people walking in and out of the Royal greenhouse.

The Bing-Bings.

They had children, TWO in fact! Maybe they would like to play but then Vanellope remembered what her mother had told her.

Watch out.

And that was something that she had done and over time she found that the two Bing-Bing girls, Jubileena and Citrusella, to be too ODD for her liking. The twins always did EVERYTHING together, their mannerism so reflective of each other that it was like someone had placed a mirror before one….though in this case, the mirror was showing off different colors. The Princess approached the greenhouse, Ah taking notice of the girl as she neared him.

"Ah, your little majesty." The man smiled sweetly "What brings you here?"

Vanellope looked over to the side, seeing the twins peeking from inside the door but they didn't seem curious as they usually did. They looked a little…scared?

Why were they scared of Vanellope?

"I just wanted to see what was going on out here. Mummy did say there was to be a party soon, right?"

"Yes." Smiled Muffy, the mother of the twins "We're just getting the garden together to ensure that it looks SPECTACULAR."

Vanellope felt like her mother at this point, the back of her mind thinking various things towards the gardeners.

 _It had better be good! I don't want the other Royal kids to make fun of me!_

The Princess could still feel the eyes of the twins on her, a good enough signal that perhaps it would be best to leave. She said her good-byes and took off as fast as she could, looking back once or twice to ensure that the girls were not going after her. Once she was inside the castle, a familiar figure caught her eye.

"RANCIS!"

The peanut-butter boy gasped, his hands clutched to his cell phone.

"Ah, Vanellope!"

The girl scowled, marching over to the boy in her ill-fitting dress angrily "You had me waitin' for so long! What took ya?!"

"I was out with MUM." The boy sputtered, not wanting to anger the Princess "Y-You know she only comes by every so often so I wanted to-!"

"You brushed me off because of THAT?!"

"How could you consider that BRUSHING OFF? I don't get to see my mother as much as YOU do!" the boy responded angrily but Vanellope was unmoved.

"Is it MY fault they got a divorce, huh? Maybe if they DIDN'T, we wouldn't have to wait on you all the time."

Rancis said nothing but the look on his face was telling to how hard the comment had struck him. The boy always tried to keep such comments from bothering him and he always tried to convince himself that the Princess just did not understand but those comments….to say such things about his parents.

Let it go, Rancis.

She's the Princesss. She's the Princess.

"What's that on your phone?"

Rancis squeaked, realizing that his phone was still in his hand. The cover flipped and closed loudly as he shoved it back into his pockets.

"It is nothing, nothing!"

"But ya looked so into that picture!" The Princess smiled cheekily as she made a garb for Rancis.

"GAH! It's nothing! Now stop!"

"Not till I see what had ya makin' that face!"

"Vanellope, stop!"

"PRINCESS Vanellope!" the girl laughed "An' unless ya want my mummy to send you to the FUNGEON."

"She would never send me to that…that place over nothing!" Rancis huffed, pushing himself away from the girl and turning red in the cheeks "Over a stupid thing on my phone? Are you serious?"

"It could be something against the Royal family." Vanellope said slyly "An' if WEEEEE were to find out, just imagine what could happen to YOOOOU!"

Vanellope was being coy again, trying her best to pry the secret from Rancis. She knew him well enough, well enough to know his weaknesses and how to play them. If she batted her eyes this way, raised her voice that way, she could get him to fold. She could get anyone to fold.

Just the way she liked it.

"I would HATE to see your daddy end up in trouble just because of somethin' YOU did, Rancy…." Vanellope continued to coo "All because ya didn't share somethin' with MEEEEE!"

"Vanellope, its none of your business!" Rancis shouted.

"When I'M the Princess….." the girl scowled "EVERYTHING is my business!"

"Not this time, it is not." The boy said, refusing to allow himself to be pulled this time "It was a mistake anyway! Just something that Candlehead and Taffyta sent-!"

"WHAT?!" gasped the girl "Candlehead?! TAFFYTA?! YOU HAVE THEIR NUMBERS ON YOUR PHONE?!"

"Is that a PROBLEM?" growled Rancis.

Vanellope began to surround the boy, walking around him "I thought ya knew better than that, RANCEEEEE. I thought ya knew better than to surround yourself with common riff-raff like them."

Common riff-raff?

Maybe the girls weren't Royals but in the time he had meet them on his errands with his parents, he found nothing WRONG with them for that fact. It was just by chance that the children were introduced a few months back to each other, Candlehead after Shelly had taken Rancis to the café and Taffyta as she was there with her friend. Rancis tried to play it up, tried to puff himself up but he couldn't in the presence of those girls. Candlehead was so bouncy, so sweet and silly and always willing to share a snack with him. Taffyta was bossy yes but she knew when to relent and she knew when to jump right in when things got tough. As much as he didn't want to admit, Rancis had had more fun in a day with the 'common folk' than he had stuck at the palace, wandering the halls when he had to spend time with his father.

And maybe that was something Vanellope was scared of.

Maybe that's why she seemed to stunned that he had their numbers in his phone.

"Now Candlehead….." Vanellope began "Maybe I can understand you talking with THAT one. MAYBE."

"M-Maybe?"

"Because her parents SERVE us….." Vanellope tittered "That Candle Wick Café of theirs? They always come here an' I sometimes see her. She's not upper-crust but I guess I can understand why someone like YOU would feel such compassion towards her."

Vanellope face shifted, her fingers digging into Rancis chest.

"But Taffyta? Isn't she a MUTTONFUDGE?"

"W-What does that have to do with ANYTHING, Princess?"

"Ya mean ya don't know?"

Rancis gulped "W-what am I supposed ta know?"

"They are CRIMINALS, Flubbutters!"

Rancis jumped a bit but he quickly calmed down. His brows furrowed as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Criminals? Are you talking about that whole Candicus thing? That event that was YEARS before our time?"

"Ya know about it?"

"Just parts…..parts my father told me….." huffed Rancis "But your father pardoned Mr. Muttonfudge so why should I be scared of him? I saw him AND his wife….they seem pretty good to me."

"Ya can never trust a Nuthinfudge, Rancis."

"A….a NUTHINFUDGE?"

"Taffyta is just as bad as her parents. I KNOW she is…." The Princess continued "If it weren't for her DADDY then there wouldn't be so much worry goin' about for this Candicus person because ya know, Mr. Muttonfudge was his right-hand man!"

Rancis began to feel worry rising in him; he had HEARD some of the details of the event but not all of it. He knew that Berlingots had done SOMETHING but just not in a way that connected him so close to this criminal. Rancis had in fact never SEEN Candicus in pictures, good ones anway, so his image of the man was still distorted and warped, Candicus appearing in his mind as some sort of massive, evil figure with his hands ready to break apart of the Sugar Rush kingdom.

And if Taffyta's dad helped him?

"But he was a nice guy!" protested Rancis. Vanellope shook her head.

"Just because he ACTS sweet on the OUTSIDE doesn't mean that he is SWEET on tha inside! An' that goes for EVERYONE in their family! Mum said they're criminals so that's what they are!"

"Isn't….isn't that a little unfair, Vanellope?"

"How so?"

"I mean….."

Rancis fidgeted a bit; the way Vanellope was looking at him, he knew he wasn't going to win this fight nor convince her otherwise.

He faltered, rubbing his arm.

"Never mind…."

"So NOW can I see what is on your phone?"

"The answer is still NO." said Ranics but Vanellope was on him again, this time succeeding in grabbing the phone and going through it "HEY! STOP!"

"Lemme see, lemme see…." The girl laughed to herself until….

Until….

UNTIL!

THAT PICTURE!

The Princess looked WIDE-EYED at the photo on the phone, recognizing the blurred image as that of the Muttonfudge patriarch, but what was going on? What had happened?

"Is that-!?"

Rancis made a reach for his phone, trying to get it out of the hold of the Princess "Stop! Don't do anything to it!"

By now, Vanellope was on the floor in laughter, the high-pitch squeal of delight traveling everywhere throughout the castle.

"HAHAHAHAH! This is truly the picture of a NOTHINFUDGE!" the girl laughed "I only wish I could have been there to-!"

"VANELLOPE!"

The girl gasped, getting on her feet to see-!

Queen Milka Von Schweetz!

"M-Mummy!"

"What are you two doing, rolling about in the halls like this?" the Queen said, not looking at all too happy. The two children gulped, afraid that the wrath of the Queen would be upon them soon.

"Um, we were just-!" Rancis began.

"Rancis was showing me a funny picture of somethin' that he took when he was with his mother!" the girl jumped in, saving Rancis the trouble of replying himself "Ya KNOW all the stuff that she sees."

"Ah, yes." The Queen nodded "Shelly does such a fine job of putting us on the map with her discoveries…..but honestly children, even if the photo IS that hilarious it still isn't worth mucking about in the halls for."

"Yes, ma'am…." The two children said, lowering their heads in shame.

"Now, daughter….I take it you are getting your outfits together for the party coming up?"

"Yes!" the girl beamed "I HAFTA be the best dressed belle of the ball!"

"And YOU, young Flubbutters?"

Rancis looked away; in all honesty he did not WANT to go to the party. If anything, he wanted to join his mother for one of her trips but how could he tells both his father AND Vanellope about his choice? If either of them knew, it would be a disaster but he couldn't hold the truth in, not this time.

"Your majesty?"

"Yes, Rancis?"

"Um…..my mother said she was going to travel to the Norther plains in a few days and I just didn't know if I wanted to stay for the party or go with her this time."

Vanellope nearly jumped out of her dress "WHAT!?"

"Oh gracious me, that is quite the choice…." Said Milka, sounding much calmer but it was clear she wasn't thinking to positive about the young boy's idea as well "Ah, but I am sure you will make the RIGHT choice in the end."

Milka was looming over Rancis like a wall, the look in her eyes telling him that the best choice he had was to stay with everyone else, Vanellope most of all.

Oh, boy….

"A-as I said…." The boy gulped "I-I'm just thinking about it."

"Well, do not take too long…." The Queen said as she walked off "The party is only a few days away….."

And once more, the two children were alone, Vanellope glaring at Rancis angrily.

"YA WANTED TA LEAVE?!"

"Vanellope, it would only be for a while!"

"So, ya just wanna go! What are ya gonna do after THAT?! Spend all your time with Candle-Butt an' Nuthinfudge?!"

"Vanellope, why does it bother you so much that I hang out with other children? And its not like I'm the ONLY kid that will be at the party! What about Sakura? Or Crumbelina? THEY usually show up to parties like this!"

True, the Yokans and the Di Carmelos were ALWAYS invited to the most fanciest parties in the land but…

But….

But just like the Bing-Bing twins, it wasn't as if Vanellope was rushing out to play with them….or vis versa.

Rancis WAS the only person whom Vanellope felt wanted to be around her, the other children often scattering off once the girl began talking but the more she thought…..the more she began to worry.

Was it THEM?

Or was it HER?

No, no it couldn't have been her! They were all just JEALOUS, JEALOUS that she was the Princess, future ruler of the entire kingdom while they were just….were just-!

Just….

"Vanellope?"

The girl looked up at Rancis angrily "Ya know what, RANCY? Hang out with whoever ya want. Just don't blame ME when all their cooties rub off on ya!"

"What in the world is THAT supposed to m-?!"

And before Rancis got his reply, Vanellope tore off down the halls, his phone still in her hands.

"VANELLOPE! THAT'S MY PHONE! THAT'S MY PHOOOOOONE!"

Rancis might have known the castle but he didn't know it as well as Vanellope did. She soon lost the boy as he chased after her, the girl ducking into her own little hidden room somewhere deep within the castle. She looked through Rancis' phone once more, filing through the list of names on his contacts, some of the names belonging to kids she had never heard of.

"Who is….LUMI?!"

She then saw the photo of Berlingots again, the warnings of her mother flooding her mind.

 _Now Vanellope, I have warned you about the Muttonfudges._

 _They come from bad stock, from father to mother to DAUGHTER._

 _They are not to be trusted as their connection with Candicus nearly caused this entire kingdom to fall!_

 _Your father was kind enough to let the father go but that does not ensure the peace of this land._

 _I hope that when it is your turn to rule this kingdom you will keep our warnings about them._

 _They are BAD people, Vanellope._

 _BAD PEOPLE._

Those words, BAD PEOPLE, they echoed in Vanellope's mind, the girl feeling a chill come over her as she thought and thought about what could have been. What could have happened if these Muttonfudges, the one that was with Candicus, had succeeded. If they had, there would be no more kingdom, no more happy candies, no more sweet lands.

But Rancis said they were okay. He had seen them.

But Milka….she was her mother. She HAD to obey.

And if the Muttonfudges were BAD people.

"Rancis has to learn…." Vanellope said, an idea coming to her mind.

What kind of idea?

Late that day, Vanellope made her way to one of the scribes in the castle, passing to him something. That scribe then went to another and then that one went to yet another, each one handing off an envelope as the final candy person made their way to the press. The candy in charge of the press looked at the photo and then at the headline, a few gestures exchanged before things went right to work.

And then in the early hours of the next morning.

SCREAMS.

LAUGHTER.

So many noises erupted from the village within.

The King was awoken with a start, nearly falling out of the bed as a deluge of various brays and calls swept over the kingdom.

"What in the world-?!"

" _Mmm, what dear?"_ yawned Milka, pulling the covers over herself.

Tobias grabbed a robe and ran from the bed rooms, greeted by the sounds of nearly all the castle staff laughing HYSTERICALLY at the front pages of the newpaper.

"What….what is going on here?!" the King ordered but the laughter continued. Tobias was always one to keep his temper about him but with nothing but laughter thrown at him, the King ripped a paper from the cook's hand, flipping through it.

And then he saw it.

That photo.

THAT TERRIBLE PHOTO.

"Holy HERSHEY kisses, who the heck took THIS?!" the King gasped.

 _ **aaaaaaaaaaaaHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAA!**_

 _ **NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGH!**_

Tobias jolted as more screams and laughter shook the kingdom but it didn't come from the castle. The King ran towards the window, seeing the village below EXPLODE with excitement and energy, people buzzing about.

"Did…..did I MISS something?"


	8. Taffyta and the Sweet Shave P3

Taffyta and the Sweet Shave Part Three

 _*And then….*_

It was an accident, that's what it was.

It had all began as an accident and she had hoped that was all it would be.

Taffyta had become startled, she had dropped her phone down the narrow shaft between the apartment buildings. The buttons had been hit on the way down, the photo had been sent to everyone she had put on her list of friends.

She never intended it to happen like this but before she knew what had happened.

The photo had gotten out.

"DELETE IT, DELETE IT!" Taffyta screamed at Candlehead, shaking her "DELETE THE PHOTO!"

"I-I-I-I have, I HAAAAAAAAAVE!" the candle-headed girl shook "W-W-Wait! I think I deleted everythin' ELSE too with all this shakin'!"

"YAAAAAAAUGH!" Taffyta screamed "It sent to EVERYONE?! EVERYONE?!"

"So it was like….booty-dailin' but ten times worse?"

Taffyta fell onto the ground again, wanting nothing more than to sink right through the ground all the way to the molten candy core of the PLANET.

"This is….this is AWFUL. THIS IS AWFUUUUUUUUL!" she moaned "When daddy finds out-!"

"Why don't ya just ask everyone who got sent tha photo ta erase it? I mean, I just did so-?"

The strawberry girl sprung to her feet, realizing that her friend was right!

"Yes, yes, YUUUUS! I need to do that! I need to do that right now! I-!"

*DING-DING! HELLO HELLO!*

Her phone.

Taffyta froze in place, already worried that it was her FATHER or MOTHER calling her down but if they had seen the photo why would they message her back? Given how BOTH could explode if either one of them had seen the thing, they would have destroyed the entire building by now.

"Who is it?"

Taffyta opened her phone, opening the message to see.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! XD

…..

GLOYD.

The girl frowned, quickly putting in her reply.

Butt-fart! It's not funny!

 _A few moments later, a reply._

Yes. Yes it is, Muttonflub. =3

Taffyta growled, skipping the messages and calling Gloyd right out "Pick up, PICK UP!"

*CA-click*

" _HAAAAA-WOOOOO?"_

"GLOYD!"

" _Haha, seems that someone is a widdle upset!"_

"Darn right I'm upset, fart-knocker!" Taffyta shouted on the phone "I sent you that picture by accident! Erase it!"

" _Awww, but I was gonna use it as my WALLPAPER! Maybe even print it out ta decorate tha kart with!"_

"I SWEAR-!"

" _Hehe, don't worry about it TAAAAFF! This thing won't leave my phone!"_

"It BETTER!" Taffyta fumed but she stopped, realizing what she had just said "No, NO! I meant-! D-Don't let it leave your phone-! U-Unless its because you erased it or-!"

" _WHOOPS! What was that?"_ the boy laughed on the other end _"Can't hear ya, my finger is pressing too hard on tha SEND button!"_

" _ **GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOYD!"**_

" _BEEP BOOP BOOP BEEP! IT'S A MEEP!"_

" _ **I'M GONNA RIP YOU APART AN' FEED YA TA SWAMP CROWS, ORANGEBOAR!"**_

" _Well, if you're gonna talk ta me like THAT, good night Taffyta."_

"Don't you dare-!"

*Ca-CLICK!*

Gone.

He was gone.

"This….is….the END." Taffyta paled, dropping the phone on the ground "This…this is it! Its over, it's OVER!"

"Er, g-give Gloyd a chance?" Candlehead meeped "I mean, I know he is a massive butt-face but maybe he WON'T send tha photo anywhere?"

Taffyta glared at her friend, her little wick-like cowlick atop her head lowering; Gloyd NOT doing something horrible? That would be the day.

Taffyta looked through her messages again, going over the list of people the photo had accidentally been sent to.

"O-okay, you, Gloyd, RANCIS?! Oh no….Wait, even my aunt and uncle?! I thought it was just connected to my FRIEND LIST!"

"T-Taffyta, its gonna be okay!" Candlehead tried to reassure her friend "I-If anythin' happens, I'll vouch for ya! I'll tell everythin' that happened!"

The strawberry girl wasn't too sure but she had to trust Candlehead, she HAD to. The girl may have been ditzy but she KNEW she wouldn't turn on her.

HOPEFULLY.

"B-But what should I do now?"

"I-I think….I think it might be best if we go ta bed on this…..I mean, its late an' maybe…."

Taffyta sniffled, rubbing her nose "Maybe it would be better to tell daddy in the morning."

The little girl shivered, her skin crawling with goosebumps.

"If I make it, that is."

After saying their good-byes, the two left for their homes. Taffyta snuck back in through the window, tip-toeing in to see if her parents were asleep. The bedroom was quiet and they were indeed cuddled up together but Bernie did not at all look comfortable. If anything, the look on his face told that his sleep was less than pleasurable. He gripped onto Malva's arm, moaning slightly.

"Urgh, n-no…."

Taffyta felt so terrible, realizing that in her action of laughing and taking a photo of the moment his mustache had been cut, she may have opened up a new candy box of trouble just not for HIM but for the entire family. What was worse, she had accidentally sent the pictures OUT and who knew if she could trust Gloyd on keeping his mouth shut in the matter. At least with Candlehead she had WATCHED the girl delete the photo but Gloyd had OTHER friends he could send the photo to, other people who would see the very moment her father faced such humiliation.

SOMEONE wasn't going to get a lot of sleep that night.

And as for Berlingots….

* * *

"HO! What?!"

The little man looked around, finding himself in what looked to be an abandoned circus grounds, everything around him rusted and rotten. He took cautious steps forward, his boots sinking slightly into the dark and dank mire of the grounds. The smell of grease, burnt popcorn and other scents rushed into his nose, making his stomach ache and his throat gag but it was something that he could not say was unfamiliar to him.

After all, this was his childhood.

He could hear the slow drone of the giant organ, an instrument that he had played so much during his life but the grand instrument looked to be in horrible shape. It was broken, the pipes bent, a few of them missing and the white paint of it was scratched and peeling, the exposed wood burrowing with worms and other insects feasting inside of it. It was playing by itself, the bellows of the notes off-key and mournful, a thick black plume of smoke rising from each tube with every note.

Berlingots might have wanted to escape this place but even in the past the grounds had not looked this bad.

Laughter surrounded him but there was not a soul around, not a candy to be seen. He turned and twisted on his feet, feeling that he was not alone and yet no one else was there to see him to greet him….

 _Beeeeeeeeernie…._

Until….

 _ **BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERNIE!**_

The little man stopped, the air feeling thicker and colder all around. The laughter mixed in with the sounds of the braying organ and the echoes of his name but he was still alone, still lost in the maze of a circus. He turned one way, seeing posters of all the acts, screams greeting him! He turned another way, the creepy faces of the clowns jumping before him, their arms reaching out to grab him.

"Get back! GET BACK!" he shouted, the back of his boots catching on something and causing him to fall "GAH!"

He looked down, seeing that it was his gun, the trick gun he used in his acts that had caused him to fall over. He quickly took it in his hands, finding that it was still loaded, still in working condition so he armed himself.

" _Wait, this stupid thing was always filled with BLANKS!"_

"Of course…." Cooed a voice from behind "We would NEVER want anyone to get HURT, would we? Hoo, hoo, hoo!"

The man turned as white as his hair, slowly turning back to see….

"Y-YOU?!"

Yes.

Fernardo Candicus.

"Hello, _**BOY.**_ "

Bernie would have pulled the trigger on the gun had he not reminded himself that the thing would not do anything, the trick bullets still inside.

"Get back! GET BACK!"

Candicus walked forward, that cruel grin on his face just as bone-chilling as ever.

"Seems that my FAVORITE little PET has changed, haven't you, BERNIE?" the candy ringmaster chuckled to himself "Seems you've, ahem, 'expanded' outward quite a bit."

Bernie took a step back and slapped the man's hands away from him "No, no. You're dead! We all watched you die during that crash! There was no way you could have-!"

"Berlingots….." the man cooed, his arm stretching out FAR longer than was possible, tickling the plump strawberry man under his chin "You of all people should know that the show MUST go on. I could never have taken such an early leave, especially when my plans still have yet to be completed!"

"P-Plans?"

"Oh-HO, YES." The evil man sneered, putting his arm around the strawberry man "You were always so SPECIAL to me, Bernie. Ever since that day I found you, all bundled up, put in that crate at the edge of the BEAUTIFUL city of lights. I was going to fed you to one of my creatures until I realized how USEFUL you could be to me…."

"Stop treating me like you own me!" Berni roared, pushing himself back "I-! M-My past has no bearings on me now! I have a new life, a new family!"

"If your past means nothing…" Candicus said, her face changing to a bitter frown "Then how come this WONDERFUL kingdom keeps reminding you of it? It seems that they all live in the past, that they want you to remember it, that you never escape what you have done!"

"But I have!" Berlingots pleaded "The King! He said-!"

"The KIIIIIIING?" Candicus hissed "THE KIIIIIIIIIING?!"

The little man stood in horror as the apparition of his former guardian began to twist and change. He was no longer the truffle-headed man he knew but he was looking more and more like some giant bug, some horrific mish-mash of man and monster. His hands were tips with razor-sharp claws while his fangs dripped with black bile and saliva.

Candicus had become the monster Bernie had always viewed him as.

" _ **THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS! WAS TO BE MY KINGDOM!"**_ the massive bug-man hissed, reaching down for Bernie _**"THIIIIIIIIIIS WAS TO BE MY KINGDOM BEFORE YOU TOOK IT FROM ME!"**_

Bernie wished he could use his trick-gun for anything, to shoot as he had been ordered to all those years ago but he could not fight back! Not against THIS beast! Candicus swiped at him, knocking him over on his feet and picked him up by the back of his collar, holding him so many stories above the ground.

"You had only one order to follow! To kill the Royals! To take them out! All those years of training you! _ **AND YOU WASTED IT! YOU BETRAYED ME, BERLINGOTS!"**_

"I-!"

Bernie looked down, knowing that if he were to fall it would be over but he couldn't fold before the massive bug. He had been a coward before, a coward to follow the man's insane desire to rule Sugar Rush but his heart had pulled him back, it had pulled him back and he knew that he could not allow such a man to ruin so many lives.

" _I-!"_

The Candicus-bug laughed deeply in his throat, his long tongue trailing out.

" _ **YES! YES I BETRAYED YOU!"**_ the little man roared _**"AND I AM GLAD THAT I DID!"**_

The candy-bug's eyes narrowed _"Whaaaaaat?!"_

"I was only a THING to you, from the moment you found me to the moment you gave those final orders to me! I wasn't a person, I wasn't a human! I WAS JUST YOUR STOOGE, someone to take the blame for your crazy ideas!"

The bug hissed loudly again, Bernie crying out as the grip around him began to tighten.

"You little, pathetic FOOL! Trying to be so brave after all of this?! _**YOU ARE NO HERO! YOU WILL NEVER BE!**_ "

"Your words mean NOTHING!" Bernie struggled "W-What you say about me no longer has meaning! I-!"

"YOU!" the bug roared "Will ALWAYS be seen as a bad person! YOU will always be seen as my helper! You know its true, everyone in the kingdom knows its true!"

Bernie could feel tears beading around his eyes, refusing to look the monster in his eyes.

"NO! No, I have a family who loves me! Malva! Taffyta! They love me more than-!"

"They will soon belong to _meeeeeeeeeeeee!_ " the bug hissed, his smile looking like that of a killer ready to tear into flesh "Soon, I will have YOU back but your freakish wife and that DARLING little daughter of yours as well!"

" _ **DON'T TOUCH THEM!"**_

"They will be MINE!"

" _ **NO! NO, THEY ARE NOT YOURS! THEY ARE-!"**_

 _ **THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, BERLINGOTS! THIS IS THE FATE YOU HAVE BROUGHT UPON YOUR FAMILY!**_

Bernie felt himself being thrown down but what he once thought was the ground turned into a wide cavernous abyss. He could only scream as he continued to fall, seeing Candicus-Bug standing over him, laughing and cackling all the way.

"You shall see, Berlingots! You can never escape me! YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE-!"

* * *

 _ **NO!**_

Berlingots awoke with a start, the man dripping with sweat and shaking horribly.

"Bernie?"

He looked to the side, Malva waking up as she put her hand on his shoulder "Baby, are you-OH!"

The little man said nothing, throwing himself on his wife and holding her tightly.

"B-Bernie?"

She could hear cries, muffled cries as he trembled around her, the woman realizing just how bad the night must have been for the man.

"Oh, gracious…." She said in a soft tone "No, no. It's okay….it's okay."

"I'm going to make things WORSE." The man sobbed "I'm only going to make it worse for you, for Taffyta…I'm going to bring this entire family down!"

"Berlingots, do not say that!" Malva said, pulling her husband away "I have told you before! You are not going to bring this family down and…..and even if…"

Even if WHAT?

Malva had to stop, taking in just how PANICKED her husband looked. It was always a shock to see him in such a state as she was so used to him being so cocky, so brash. Only RARELY did he allow himself to show this side, the fear that was lurking within.

Malva knew she had to do something to comfort the man but as much as she loved him, as much as she would do ANYTHING for him she just did not know the true answer. She just did not know how to help him. She stopped her words, hugging the man again.

"Maybe….maybe we should leave?"

"What?! NO!"

"If that's what its going to take…."

"Malva, no! Your studio! Y-You cannot stop because of-!"

 _ **BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!**_

The LOUD boom of Meiji's laugh was heard downstairs, the two looking at each other in puzzlement. But then the laughter only grew, Bernie hearing some people OUTSIDE the apartments cracking up with glee but what was going on and why was it happening so early in the morning?

" _Qu'est-ce que c'est?"_ the little man said as he bolted out of the bed, putting his robe on.

"Berlingots? Bernie?"

The man ran out to the front of the apartments, a few candy people milling about and talking as they held their papers before them. It was an odd sense that Bernie was getting considering how many of the candy people were roaming outside THEIR home and as soon as he got the paper….

He looked at the front page and….

STOP.

PAUSE.

"Wh-WHAT?!"

"Soooo…."

Bernie looked over, noticing Meiji walking up to him, the grin on his face just TELLING to the pain that was about to come.

"I was wonderin' if there would EVER be a photo of you that could beat your official wanted poster…." The chocolate man said, shoving the paper in Bernie's face "Looks like I just got my answer!"

It was the photo!

That TERRIBLE photo!

This had to be a part of the nightmare! This could not be real!

But all the laughter, all the smiles…..

This was real.

This was all too real!

Berlingots took another look at the humiliating photo, his hands shaking as he tore into the paper but his rage wasn't just focused on those outside.

 _ **TAFFYTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**_

Upstairs, a certain little strawberry racer was already huddling under her bed; the explosion had happened.

 _"Oh, no…."_

Taffyta could hear her father MARCHING up the stairs, the entire apartment feeling as if it were hit by an EARTHQUAKE.

" _ **WHERE ARE YOU?!"**_

" _Berlingots, don't-!"_

" _ **IT'S THE PICTURE SHE TOOK! I KNOW IT IS!"**_

" _Before you rush in, calm down for-!"_

 _ ***WHA-BAM!***_

The door was punched open and there was Berlingots, standing right at the door with his entire body as red as his signature fruit.

" _ **TAFFYTA PRAILEEN MUTTONFUDGE! COME OUT FROM UNDER THAT BED!"**_

" _I'm not here!"_

" _ **COME OUT!"**_

" _ **NO!"**_ the girl cried "No, because I know you'll!"

Taffyta didn't have a chance to reply as Bernie PUSHED the bed off to the side, the girl getting a full view of just how FURIOUS her father looked, the sight of his half-shaved mustache not at all adding any humor to the situation.

" _ **EXPLAIN THIS!"**_ he shouted, shaking the paper before the girl _**"TOUT SUITE!"**_

She could already feel the tears welling in her eyes, never seeing her father appear so….so HORRIFYING!

" _ **NOOOOOOW!"**_

"O-Okay, I took the pictures, I did!" the girl cried "But I didn't mean to send them! It was just an ACCIDENT!"

"An ACCIDENT?!" Bernie cried out "How is THIS an ACCIDENT?!"

"Th-they were on my phone but last night-! I-I dropped it and it just sent to everyone!"

" _ **INCLUDING THE PAPER?!"**_

"I didn't do that, daddy! I swear!" Taffyta bawled loudly "Th-the only people who got it were Candlehead, Gloyd, an-an' maybe Uncle Squidge and Auntie Halwa….."

Bernie quickly turned towards the door, Malva standing there with her own phone in hand.

"UH…..they both…..made calls….JUST NOW."

*Priiiiiii!*

Malva nervously answered the phone " _N-naaaaa?_ "

Squeals and loud shouts.

 _"Who is it? WHO IS IT?"_ whispered Bernie.

"It's my sister…." Malva smiled nervously "N-No, Halwa. He wasn't drunk this time, I swear!"

" _I told you he was no good!"_

Berlingots turned back towards his daughter, the man just burning with rage and humiliation.

"How….HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!?"

"I-I told you it was an accident!"

"Everyone-! EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED NOW!" the man roared, Taffyta feeling as if his entire form was filling the room "Do you hear that?! Do you hear ALLLLLL of that, Taffyta?! That is the sound of this entire Kingdom LAUGHING at me because YOU didn't have the sense to delete that stupid photo off your phone! Who KNOWS where it could end up next! I'm surprised it hasn't reached the next THREE kingdoms over!"

The strawberry girl was still crying loudly, wishing she had the strength to tell Berlingots everything but she was too scared by now, the anger of her father pushing her further and further down.

"I-! I have to find out who put this in the paper! I have to!"

"Berlingots, don't you dare leave!" Malva yelled as she took her husband by the back of his collar, holding him strong "There is enough chaos going on right now and-!"

"And you EXPECT me to just TAKE IT!?" the man hissed, managing to wriggle himself free "Oh no, oh NO! I've HAD it with EVERYONE, Malva! FIFTEEN YEARS we've sat by as people spread rumors about us and of all the times you don't want me to do anything, you pick THIS?!"

"HEY!" Malva growled, standing up even taller as if she were trying to remind Bernie just how much of an advantage she held over him "There are better ways to take care of this but I know that right now? The way you're acting? You're only going to make things WORSE, Mister!"

The little man felt as if he were going to EXPLODE; first his DAUGHTER humiliates him and then his wife refuses him to take action?

If that were the case….

"MOVE."

"H-HEY!"

Bernie managed to SOMEHOW squeeze himself between Malva but she rushed him, forcing her hips to press him against the wall with a heavy thud!

"Don't move!"

It was one of her MANY advantages.

"QUAAAWRK!" the little strawberry man squawked but he continued to struggle, Malva pressing back on him even harder.

"D-Don't' you dare-!" the larger woman warned, knowing well that if she made the wrong move, Bernie could escape.

"Pthhhhhhhhht! M-Malvath! You're CRUTHIN' me!"

"GOOD!"

"Arrrgth!" the man cried out, his hands reaching upwards "Y-Youth only broth dith on YOURTHELF!"

"A-AAGH! Stop tickling!" Malva said with a giggle and a snort, her face going red "Ah-! AAHAHAHAHA, no fair!"

"Like being SMASHED by your BEHIND is fair!"

"YOU USUALLY ENJOY IT!"

And then the fight began.

Bernie crawled on Malva, Malva tried to hold Bernie back and they ended up both tussled on the floor, Taffyta looking on from her bed room as her parents were more or less playing the wildest game of Twister ever imagined.

Stop holding me there!

If you so much as-!

UUURGH! LET GO!

YAAAAURGH! DID YOU JUST LICK MY HAND?!

The two continued to fight their way down the stairs until final, Bernie managed to wriggle from his wife's hold-!

"BERLINGOTS!"

Grab the keys on the wall and bolt off for the garage!

"Don't you dare! DON'T YOU EVEN-!"

 _ **SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-!**_

In a cloud of dust Bernie took off in the family car, leaving Malva standing outside the studio, Taffyta joining her a second later.

"Taffyta?" Malva asked, a smile on her face.

"Y-Yes, mama?"

" _Did your daddy just steal our fudgin' car?"_

"….Yes. Yes, he did."

The smile remained.

Then faded.

" _ **UUUUURGH! AAAAAH! AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGH!"**_

Surprisingly, everyone STOPPED laughing once they heard Malva's roar.

"Taffyta, get dressed."

"W-Where are we-?"

"No more questions, child. GET. _**DRESSED!**_ "

The little strawberry girl had already seen the wrath of her father and with her mother rolling into an equally BAD mood, she knew that NOW was the best time to OBEY.


	9. Rainbau Reflections

Rainbau Reflections

~Several Weeks Earlier~

"Has anyone seeeeen Snowy?"

The flightly, harmonic voice drifted in the area of the large studio, the rainbow colored candies looking up and nodding their heads.

"She hasn't come down for breakfast?" Said Cyan, the drummer.

"Oh, that is unlike her!" Piped Rojo, the pianist.

"Do you think she is alright?" Whimpered the worried Aubergine.

The main musician tip-toed her way towards the bottom of the stairs, her candy back-up watching on her every move.

"Snowanna?"

* * *

"Why are they so fuzzy?"

Snowanna whimpered again as she rubbed her tired eyes but no matter what she did they would not clear up. It had been a few weeks since this had gone on and while it didn't bother her at first, now things were starting to get bothersome.

First the notes on her music sheets looked too blurry.

And then she began to miss chords on her guitar since they all looked the same.

And even at night, the stars didn't seem as bright as they once had.

Snowanna had always told the troupe that things were okay, that perhaps it was just the summer pollen that was getting in her eyes but the worse it became, the more her gut was telling her that something worse was wrong.

But how could she tell her parents? What would they think? What would they do?

What if they told her they could no longer play her music if she could not see?

"Snowanna?"

The rainbowed racer let out a squeak as she heard her mother's voice from downstairs, rushing to her door and opening it up.

"Y-Yeah, mama?"

The cherubic chocolate woman looked worryingly at her daughter but given how far away she was all Snowanna could see was but a blur.

"Come on down. If we wait for you any longer it'll be lunch."

Snowanna shivered, making certain not to squint.

"O-Okay, I'll be down there in a sec!"

"That's what you said an HOUR ago." Huffed Rojo, crossing his arms. His twin, Vermillion, slugged him in the side.

"Must you be so hot-headed?"

Snowanna knew it would be best not to make her family nor the rest of the band wait so with some hesitation she made her way down to the first level of the sprawling home. Thankfully, her sight was not so bad as not to forget her way through her own home but the more she looked around the more she began to realize how bad her vision had become.

She could not make out her mother's candy back-up singers as she once had, all their forms so blurry and their colors muted and dull. Her eyes were darting about, hearing them laugh and talk among themselves but their bodies?

Everything looks like it had been smeared with marshmallow cream.

"Sweetie?"

Snowanna turned, seeing a large purple, brown and blue figure standing before her.

Who was this?

Berry!

"Ah! DADDY!"

"Is something wrong?" Asked Berry, looking down and noticing just how WIDE his little daughter's eyes were as she looked up at him "From the way you're lookin' at me, I might as well be a giant fish or somethin'!"

"U-Uh!" Snowanna flustered, trying to figure out what to say "Um, I think there is chocolate on one of your braids, Daddy!"

Berry absentmindedly looked down, running his fingers through his long hair "Really?"

Before the rainbow man could ask anything else, Snowanna zipped her way towards her seat, hoping that no one had thought the act to be out of the ordinary.

"So everyone!" Snowanna's mother smiled, such sweetness and sugar felt all around "I have just finished the plans for our next tours comin' up an' BOY! We're gonna be all over tha place!"

The candy crew cheered at the announcement. Even Rojo, as often as he pretended to show how little things could impress him, cracked a smile at the thought.

"First, we are going to Bonomo!"

"Oooooh! All the way near the Sugar Seas Gulf!" Swooned Magenta, one of the trio of singers, "It is so BEAAAAAUTIFUL this time of year!"

"After our engagement there? We're heading towards "Cape Custard!"

"Hear that Vermilion?" Rojo smirked towards his twin "We get to go home for a holiday."

The orange candy of the two rolled his eyes "Just make sure you don't get arrested this time. There is no need for you to drag the Rainbaus down because of YOUR behavior."

Snowanna kept her head down, slowly and sadly eating her breakfast as her mother continued to read off the locations they were to visit. Any other time, Snowanna would have been EXCITED to learn of the destinations she and her family would be visiting while they were on tour and why not?

Snowanna LOVED going all over the globe.

And why was that?

Her mother was Sundae Sonata, the Siren of this sweet world.

Snowanna's earliest memories had always been with Sundae's band. Ever since she was a baby she had gone with her mother and father all around the world and ever since she had been strong enough to hold her own guitar and keep her notes in tune, she had performed with them.

Berry and Sundae were world renowned, their music and voices a symbol of how sweet life could be and since those earliest moments, Snowanna had wanted nothing more than to make them proud. She wanted Sundae to see that her daughter could play as beautiful as Barry, could sing as perfectly as she could.

But would she be able to do that if she could not see?

Snowanna had lost track in her gloom, not hearing her mother calling towards her.

"Baby?"

"Ah?"

Snowanna looked up, seeing the blur of her mother's form and the others looking at her.

"Is something the matter, baby?"

What to say, what to say?

"N-No!" The rainbow girl stammered, shaking her head "I-I'm fine! Just perfect?"

Berry could see the sadness coming upon his wife's face and the nervous was felt even more from his young daughter. He looked at her, very concerned.

"Ya sure about that, kiddo?" The rainbow rocker said "Ya know if somethin' is botherin' ya, ya can always-!"

"Um! Ya said we were goin' to Bonomo?" Snowanna said, standing up suddenly.

Sundae took a while to respond, surprised at her daughter's actions.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I hafta study up on the music of the area!" Snowanna said "I-I wanna make sure that I can keep up with ya if you're gonna-!"

"But Snowy." Sundae interrupted "We're not-!"

Before her mother could get another word in, Snowanna had taken off for her room. The two parents looked at each other for a moment.

"Snowanna seem...JUMPIER than normal?" Asked Berry. The man could see his little wife frowning even more, her whipped-cream like hair drooping as if it were starting to melt.

"Dearie me. I hope I didn't mention anything to bother her."

Snowanna was bothered alright, but for different reasons.

As soon as she got into her room, the girl ran off in her head on what to do.

"Should I tell mom n' dad!? SHOULD I?!"

Maybe she should. After all, if they thought she was sick or something they would take her to the doctor and things would be better.

Much better!

But then there were OTHER possibilities.

What if her parents got mad at her for not telling the truth sooner? And what if they thought something was wrong with her?

Her heart began to race, her hands began to shake.

What if they thought she could no longer play music because she could not see?

Snowanna felt her eyes tearing up at the thought; her love of music come crashing down and destroyed all because of her eyesight.

What a way to go before you even got started.

 _*Knock knock knock!*_

The girl squeaked and turned, her father entering the room.

"Daddy!"

Berry smiled at his daughter but unlike other times, Snowanna didn't feel too assured.

"Hey, kiddo."

Snowanna tried her best to put on a smile but she was still so very worried.

"How 'bout we go to tha library?"

The rainbow girl tilted her head to the left "Why?"

"Well, ya said ya wanted to know about music from Bonomo right?" Berry smiled, taking his child by the hand "They'll have plenty of books and records for ya there."

Before Snowanna could object, Berry had taken her to the car and the two headed off towards the main town of the kingdom.

"Wow, this place is really busy isn't it?" Berry said, not at all worried about being hounded by reporters or anyone who was itching for an autograph.

He was a Rainbau.

He was used to it.

The two were stopped at a light, Berry making a quick glance over towards the child next to him. She was still so sad, still so upset and Berry had not a clue as to what to do to make her smile.

"Snowy?"

"Y-Yes, daddy?"

"Kiddo, I was tellin' ta truth back there. About if somethin' were botherin' ya, ya can ALWAYS tell me."

"I-I know..." Snowanna said, her head lowering down.

"Did someone hurt you?"

Snowanna shook her head no.

"Did ya break somethin'?"

Another no.

"Are you sick?"

Sick?

The girl clutched the end of her skirt, her eyes starting to sting but not because of the blurry nature of her sight.

 _If you tell him the truth! He'll get mad!_

 _And when he gets mad, he'll tell mom!_

 _And when he tells mom, she'll get mad!_

 _They'll be mad at me!_

 _They'll tell me I can't play!_

 _And I can never make them happy if I can't play!_

Despite how she felt, despite how she wanted to say something she kept it in. She looked at Berry once more and shook her head no.

Father's intuition.

Something was wrong.

The light turned green as Berry continued his way down the road, noticing more and more unfamiliar faces in the town's circle.

"I bet Queen Milka has somethin' planned. I haven't seen this many froofy tarts since your mother tried bakin'!" He said with a laugh, hoping that would bring a smile to his daughter's face but alas, it was not a success.

"Nothin', eh?"

One sad Rainbau.

When the two finally got to the library, Snowanna tried her best to look around but everything looked so different, everything was so much harder to see. Unlike previous times the building was so much darker and what little light did show through hurt the girl's eyes. She squinted about, unable to read a single sign or line of script before her. Even the children's section, where all her favorite storybooks were, looked like a massive blob of melted jell-o.

Nothing looked the same.

 _"Kiddo?"_

Snowanna was thankful that despite how much her eyes hurt her, she could still easily make out the form of her father and his gestures. She signaled her to follow him and the two went off towards the World History section.

 _"Here we go."_ Berry said with a smile and keeping his voice to a whisper, his fingers strumming on the spines of the books _"Oh."_

 _"Y-Yeah, daddy?"_

The tall man pulled out a book, a look of warm nostalgia forming on his face _"Candy Calypso."_

 _"W-What is that?"_

 _"It's an old song book, from where I'm from."_ The man smiled _"Ya know the copy I have a home."_

 _"T-the one I tried to eat when I was lil?"_

Berry chuckled to himself _"Yes. Yes. Your mother said I had never cried out so loud in my life when I saw ya eating a book! I told her 'Dear! Can't she see that it's not consumption! I know the pictures of the food in there LOOK good but-!"_

Can't she see?

Not really.

 _"D-Do ya see any books on Bonomo yet?"_ Snowanna asked, her head down.

Berry was a little surprised at how ABRUPT Snowanna had been with her replied but he focused his head up, his eyes still looking towards her.

 _"Um, actually. Here's ones."_

Snowanna nervously looked up at her father _"Can I see it?"_

Berry handed the book down and as soon as Snowanna opened it.

It was even worse.

The tiny print was nearly impossible for her to read.

Why was this happening? WHAT was happening? Snowanna felt the urge to put the book in her face and to squint just to see but if she were to do that, Berry would know! He would know that she couldn't see if and he knew then-!

 _"Snowanna?"_

Snowanna suddenly realized that she had indeed absentmindedly raised the book so close to her face that her nose was nearly in it. Berry smirked, tapping the shelves.

 _"Ya know, I might have to have a talk with Meiji. Seems like ya an' his Candle-kid have a thing for eatin' books."_

Once more, Berry had hoped that Snowanna would smile at the joke but...

A frown.

A deep frown.

A deep UPSET frown.

Berry looked at his daughter in surprise, noticing that her eyes were starting to glisten over and her lip quivering a tad.

Oh, Bartholomew Rainbau. What did you do THIS time?

 _"Snowy?"_

"I don't want to eat the book!" Snowanna said, a little too loud for a few of the patrons in the library.

 _"SHHHHHHHH!"_

 _"Ah, Snowy! Snowy, chill!"_ Berry gasped, seeing the signs of the impending deluge of tears _"If this is because I told everyone about tha book story-!"_

"Daddy!" Snowanna chocked through a cry "I can't SEE the book!"

 _"SHHHHHHHHHH!"_

Berry was a little confused by his child's tearful confession, kneeling down towards her.

 _"What now, kiddo?"_

Snowanna looked at the book again, and then looked at her father.

He was so blurry.

He was so out of focus.

She couldn't see him.

She couldn't see ANYONE.

"Daddy!" The girl cried out again, throwing herself into Berry's chest "I can't see!"

* * *

There was a bit of confusion, there was a bit of apologies for the noise but once things had started to settle, Berry suddenly understood. Some tears were shed, some laughs were made but in the end things were made better.

A trip to the ice cream stand will do that to a person.

"So how long has this been goin' on?" Asked Berry as he took a nice spoonful of sorbet "From tha way ya were cryin'…."

"I-I really can't pin-point it..." Snowanna said softly, taking a weak bite of her own frozen treat "I just...I just remember wakin' up one day an' my eyes felt all weak an' things looked a little different but it wasn't as bad as it was now."

Snowanna took a deep breath, realizing just how long she had hidden the truth from her parents.

"I thought it was just somethin' that would go away. Ya know, like a cold or somethin' but it just got worse an' worse an'….."

"Worse?" Berry finished, Snowanna nodding.

The man looked into the setting sun, the beautiful mix of colors blending together into a menagerie as they began to make their way into the night. He remembered how much Snowanna loved looking at the sights, the colors in the sky.

When she was born...

He would hold her tight.

And she would laugh and reach for the rainbow, her high-pitched laughter the sweetest song he could hear.

He could only imagine how badly she must have felt now with her poor vision.

"Snowanna?"

The girl looked up at her father, sniffling.

"Why didn't ya tell us?"

"Because..." The girl began, her voice shaking "I...I didn't want to disappoint ya."

Berry looked ASTONISHED by the choice of words his daughter had used "DISAPPOINTED? How so?"

"If I can't see..." Snowanna began, tears welling up again "How can I play music? I won't be able to see the strings. I won't be able to see the notes."

"Ya could get glasses."

"But what if they don't work?" Snowanna said, sounding even more frightened than before "What if they don't work!? I won't be able to see music or play! An' even worse!"

"Yeaaaaah?"

"I won't be able ta see you or mama! How will-!?"

Snowanna stopped, biting her lip as she clutched onto her sorbet cup.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell ya sooner but I was just scared."

"We...we all get scared. It's alright ta be scared. But ya wanna know somethin' else that's alright?"

Snowanna looked up at her father, shaking her head no.

"It's alright ta ask for HELP too." The man smiled as he placed his hand on his daughter's rainbow curls "An' trust me. Your mama an' I wouldn't be angry at ya for needin' glasses or anythin'!"

"But it's more than that." Snowanna continued "Even if ya aren't angry at me...what if I can't play music anymore because I can't see?"

Berry looked at his daughter.

It was time to explain it, wasn't it?

She was still very young and they had never really told her.

But then again, she didn't see anything different about it?

"Snowanna?"

"Yeah?"

"There are many people in this world who cannot see tha way we do."

Snowanna wiped her nose on her sleeve, "Y-Yeah."

"Right now, I see an orange and red sunset giving way to a deep purple and blue of tha night. It is very beautiful. But I know there are many who cannot see it."

Snowanna began to wring her hands together; perhaps her own vision was bad but she could see see the colors herself.

"Snowanna?"

"Daddy?"

"Even for those who cannot see colors like we can, they have still found a way to continue to do what they loved. They have continued to create with their passion. There are many who have various adversities and hardships placed in their way...but they do not keep that from stoppin' them from doing what they love."

"So...even if I can't see? I can stil play music? But how?"

Berry smiled at his daughter, the little rainbow girl able to make it out just a tad. He then picked her up and placed her on his lap.

"I want to show ya somethin'." The man said as he reached into his satchel, and pulled out a book. Snowanna took it into her hands, feeling the engraved letters on the cover.

"S-U-N-D-A-E." She read allowed "That's mama's name."

"Yes." Berry nodded "But I want ya ta take a look INSIDE."

Snowanna opened the book but upon doing so, she was not greeted by the familiar black squiggles of writing she was used to seeing. Even if her vision was blurry, she would have thought she could see that but she could not. From her point of view, the pages looked blank.

Until...

Until she put her hands upon them...

Bumps.

She felt bumps.

Then she remembered.

There were some books in the house that were printed like this. She had seen them around the house but she had never really understood why they were there. But she then remembered Sundae.

Her mother.

Sundae was always the one with these books.

Not Berry, not anyone else in the band.

HER MOTHER.

"One of mama's books?" The girl asked "Why are they made like this?"

"Because..." Berry began, his voice somber and warm "Your mother is blind."

Blind?

Snowanna knew that word. She knew what it meant but...

Sundae could dance on stage with no problem.

She always talked about color.

She always fussed about her outfits.

She was blind?

"When I came to this kingdom many years ago..." Berry smiled "I met a young singer by the name of Sundae. Your mother an' my first love."

"An' what happened?"

"Many things." Berry began "Some that I don't think you're ready to hear yet but...but when I learned about it as well, I had no idea. Even back then your mother had a followin' but she never talked about her impairment. When I asked her why..."

 _"I don't get it, Sunny."_

 _"You don't get what?"_

 _"I never knew ya were blind."_

 _"Oh. Yeah. Well, some people know I guess."_

 _"But not me! Ya never told me when we met at tha café!"_

 _"I didn't think like I had to. An' see, now you're gettin' all worried about it."_

 _"How can I NOT worry!? I mean-!?"_

 _"Berry. I've made it on my own this long. Why worry now?"_

 _"Well-! I don't want ya ta get hurt!"_

 _"Have ya heard any reports of me getting' hurt on tour? Not includin' that time we hit a whale on the boat?"_

 _"But-!"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"How do ya do it, Sunny?"_

"Your mother told me..." Berry continued, his voice and heart so warm "That ever since she was a kid, she felt that things were a little different. She couldn't see things tha same way we did. She couldn't see people like you or I. To her, or as she has told me, things...come out in colors."

"Colors?" Snowanna asked "How so? I thought anyone who was blind could only see, I dunno, tha dark."

"No, from what Sunny has told me...she sees colors. She sees so much beautiful color...but everythin' else? Objects, people, words in books...their form?"

 _"Can...can ya see ME?"_

Berry stopped. He smiled. He shook your head.

"Baby, don't be scared."

Snowanna gripped her mother's book in her hand, feeling an odd sensation coming over her deep in her heart.

"Your mother has done so many things I never thought was possible, even beyond goin' on stage an' doin' as much singin' as she does."

The man looked in the sky, Snowanna watching his smile grow.

"Even when danger came over her. Even when evil looked her right in the face, mocked her, told her how weak she was. She still came through. She still took my hand an' helped me."

"Helped ya with what?" Snowanna blinked "An'….an' whatever was goin' on. It sounded bad. Who was this 'evil' person you're talkin' about?"

The tall man placed a hand on his mouth, looking as if he were trying his best to remain calm, to remain in the moment with his little daughter. He shook his head, purple and blue braids going about.

"Not now..." he said "Not now..."

"But Daddy!"

"I would continue to believe in you, Snowanna." Berry said "No matter what happens. I would."

"Really?"

"You're a strong kid. I know ya can make it through."

"But what if I don't..." Snowanna said "What if..."

"Then get back up."

Snowanna looked at her father and as blurry as her sight was...she could still see the spark in his eyes.

"If ya mess up, get back up and try again. We all mess up. We all do things that are bad..."

"But what if-?"

"Just keep goin'." Berry said "Your mother taught me that."

"She...she did?"

"Yes. Yes, she did. If I had never had met her...I never would have gotten so much out of life."

Snowanna clutched her mother's book near her chest, the words of her father starting to sink in.

If her mother could do it, why couldn't she?

Maybe getting glasses could be a good thing too!

The girl rubbed her tired eyes, handing the book back to her father.

"Hey, daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"What is in this thing, anyway?"

Berry laughed, placing his hands on the page "Would ya believe. Your mother has so much time to spend on her hands she collected EVERY lame song I wrote an' put 'em in braille?"

"Is THAT what this is?!"

"Yuuuuup." Berry laughed, going through the pages "Here. I can read 'em for ya. Your mother taught me."

"Aurg, if they're so bad! Don't read 'em in public!"

"Oh oh oh! Tootie frootie, I pootie for you!"

"AUUUURGH! DID YA WRITE A SONG ABOUT FARTS?!"

Berry laughed "NO! I swear I didn't! Your mother thought it sounded like it though an' made sure ta shred tha original copy!"

"Then why did she put it in this!? All she did was bring back bad memories!"

"Here's a song I wrote about tha color purple. Your mother said it was so sickly sweet she wanted to barf."

"Urgh, turn tha page."

* * *

A few hours later, both father and daughter made their way back home. Sundae sat on the front couch, the little woman rolling back and forth on the cushions in great worry.

"Okay, what have we learned over the years, Sundae?" The woman meeped in her little high voice "Berry stayin' out THIS long can either mean he's been kidnapped or Dango found him an' OH HEAVENS ABOVE HE'S IN TROUBLE!"

"Mama!"

Sundae sat up, turning towards the sound of her daughter's voice. The snow-cone girl rushed in and lept into her mother's arms without a second of hesitation.

"We got ya ice-cream!" Snowanna sang out, hugging her mother tighter "It may be a lil melted since we took so long but-"

"Ya didn't run into Dango, did ya?" Sundae said as she rushed over to Berry, her hands going to his face "He didn't talk ya inta another mishandled 'TOUR' did he?!"

"HMMPH! SUNDAE!"

Snowanna looked over, her eyes still tired but able to see the forms of her parents as they tussled with each other. She smiled; no matter how silly they acted, there was just something there.

And she remembered what her father had told her.

Sundae had not let an obstacle stop her.

So why should she?

"Mama?"

Sundae turned around and knelt towards her daughter, a hand going onto the girl's cheek.

"Yes, sweety?" The ice-cream songstress asked, Snowanna seeing the worry behind her colored frames and the sadness in her voice "Are ya feelin' better?"

Snowanna looked down at the ground, her foot digging into the carpet "I got somethin' ta tell ya..."

~This Day~

"I'm surprised we didn't buy out tha store!" Berry laughed as he lead his wife and child down the busy streets of the Sugar Rush kingdom "I told Snowanna just one pair of glasses. JUST ONE! But what happened?!"

"Oh hush." Sundae smiled, bopping her husband on the nose "She's just takin' after me! Ya know I can't wear the same pair of frames everyday!"

"Wait, how does that work?" Snowanna asked, thinking of the possible combinations her mother must have worn over the years "Does it count when ya have the same frames but different lenses? Because once ya think about it-!"

OH MY GOOOOOOOBS!

IT'S SUNDAE SONATA!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIII!

GET THE CAMERA! GET THE CAMERA!

The Rainbaus stopped in their tracks once the crowd formed around them.

 _"Whu-oh."_ Berry chuckled _"Duty calls."_

"But this is one of tha best parts of the job." Sundae smiled, adjusting the frames of her star-shaped glasses.

She stood tall.

She stood proud.

She was ready to put on a performance!

"Awww, come here my sweeties!" Sundae laughed and sang "I'll get ya siggies an' everythin'!"

OH MY GOBS, BERRY'S HERE TOO!

SUNDAE! SIGN MY FACE! BERRY! SIGN MY LEGS!

 _ **I'M SO EXCITED I CAN'T FEEL MY FAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!**_

Snowanna realized her parents would be busy as they always were during their signing rush but she knew it was something they enjoyed.

"I'll let 'em have fun..." Snowanna said, digging into her purse and finding the slip she needed to return to the optometrist for her new glasses "I can handle this myself!"

After squeezing through the crowd Snowanna strolled her way down the path. She was so excited to finally get her new glasses, a feat she never would have imagined given how worried she was beforehand. Of course, that was before she had been told her mother's story and known just how much her mother had done gave Snowanna hope.

It had given her strength.

It had given her courage.

She was no longer scared.

If anything, Snowanna was more excited than ever to perform once she got her new frames, the girl trying her best to keep herself from doing CARTWHEELS towards the little glasses shop.

"Ooooh! This is so EXCITIN'!" Snowanna cheered and sang to herself "An' once I get these, I'll start my own collection like mama an-!"

Sniffles.

Whimpers.

Cries.

The snow-cone girl stopped in her tracks.

What was that sound?

She turned to her left, then to her right. It couldn't have been the crowd; she could still hear them and from their shots they were begging for more autographs.

Then-?

Snowanna saw a mass of colors near the corner of the block, something red white and blue. She squinted, the figure still a blur but the colors were coming in clearer. She could see a soft, pale strip of skin, touched by blue peaking from the cracks of white.

The girl approached the mass cautiously but as she got closer...

She could feel the coldness coming off the girl's skin, feel the soft touch of snowflakes landing on her skin. Snowanna pulled her hand away, looking on her brown skin as the white snowflake melted into a tiny droplet of water.

She was awestruck.

"H-Hey?" Snowanna asked, taking small steps towards the huddled figure "A-are ya okay?"

The figure slowly looked up, Snowanna able to make out two clear blue eyes.

Eyes that were spilling over with tears.

"I-!"

"Yeah?

"I'M-!"

Snowanna nodded her head "YEAH!?"

The tiny figure shook as she clutched herself, tears rolling down her frosty cheeks.

 _ **"I WANNA GO HOME!"**_


	10. Bing-Bing Berry Bonanza P1

Bing-Bing Berry Bonanza Part 1

But what was happening days before?

What was happening before all the news got out, all the craziness?

Well…

The sun rose in Sugar Rush, the golden light peeking through the second floor room of the garden house. Inside were the twins, their beds untouched by the sunlight as it slowly crept along the divide between their beds.

The one in the red bed was dreaming sweet dreams, her feet twitching as even in her sleep she was ready to go and run about.

The one in blue was sleeping much more soundly, curled up tight and enjoying the slow, drifting feeling of flying through the clouds.

*BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!*

The alarm sounded but both girls were far too entranced in their slumber to notice, the clock carrying on. Just went it seemed like no one would answer the alarm, a string upon the smaller arm snagged a switch.

*TWANG!*

It pulled hard upon a wheeled contraption, pulling it further down the top of the dresser. It rolled off, the weight pulling the blinds of the window which caused bright sunlight to POUR into the room.

"Zan shango hao!"

The girls grumbled and groaned as a chipper voice echoed from an entrance in the floor, followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Girls, girls! WAKE UP!"

The first girl, the one in red, rose first. She yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily "Daaaa-dyyy…."

The second girl, the one in blue, huddled in her blankets "It's too early."

"Too early?" said the crimson-headed man, coming through the entrance and standing tall "TOO EARLY?! When the royal family needs us, it is never too early!"

"But-!" said the first girl.

"We-!" said the second.

"Yes, yes. 'But we have to get going! We have a job to do!" the man said as he walked over to the windows and pushed them open, the warm sweet air billowing into the room. He took a deep breath, patting his chest.

"Oh, smell the flowers! Smell the leaves! I can tell we are going to have a bunker crop this season! The Von Schweetz will love it!"

The twins knew there was no way they were going to escape with as roused up as the cherry man was, so what other choice did they have but to get up.

"Okay." Said the red girl.

"Alright." Said the blue.

"We'll get ready." They both said, getting out of the bed in a mirrored fashion, both their feet touching the ground at the same time.

"That's my girls." The man said, patting his daughters atop their head "We can't have a harvest without all the Bing Bings!"

Wash up.

Brush teeth.

Comb hair.

All in patterns, all in patterns.

As the two girls went about their daily routine, a good eye would have been able to spot how flawlessly the two matched each other in movements. It was like watching a shadow, each girl moving at precisely the same time, each girl reaching for the exact same time at the exact same time.

They were twins alright….

And yet.

And yet, they were still different.

The one in red seemed boundless in her energy, her eyes glowing bright with glee while the one in blue seemed much more calm, relaxed, reserved.

The one in red had pigtails that curled UP.

The one in blue had pigtails that curled DOWN.

The one in red had double cherries on her shirt.

The one in blue had double blueberries on hers.

At last they were ready for breakfast, feeling much more refreshed once the sleep bad been shaken from their bodies.

"Ready, Citrusella?" the one in red said as she put on her cherry cap.

Citrusella smiled warmly, getting her blueberry cap "Yes, Jubileena."

* * *

"And they wanted how many?" asked a plump blueberry woman as she placed the final bowl on the table "FOUR dozen."

"Yes, yes." Said the cherry man, nodding his head as he looked over his notes "And that is only for a start!"

"A START?"

"From what I have been informed, the royal family are having some sort of party soon, all sorts of dignitaries and all that other fancy stuff? That'll be there."

"So no wonder the king sounded so frantic." Said the woman, sitting down and pouring her husband a cup of tea "Oh, Ah! We have to make sure we find the best! Only the best!"

Ah smiled; he loved it when his little wife got so excited over the prospect of showing new arrivals to the kingdom the array of flowers and fruits that grew throughout the land.

"Ha-haaaa, Muffy. Don't go shooting through the roof, my dear. Wait for the children to arrive and-!"

"We're here!" the twins said as they joined their parents at the table, both taking their seats in their respective colored chairs.

"What was this-?" began Jubileena.

"About a party?" finished Citrusella.

"It's a special get together for the royal family, you two." Said their mother with a smile "The King was gracious enough to request that we find him the best jewel fruit for the occasion."

"Jewel fruit?" asked a curious Citrusella.

"But don't those grow later in the season?" asked Jubileena.

"So it seems that you remember the growing patterns." Smiled Ah, swelling with pride at his daughters' knowledge "Yes. Some do but there are a few breeds that are ready for picking now but only for a short supply."

Jubileena's cheeks glowed with wonder "Then they must be-."

"Very, very special then." Finished Citrusella, looking rather nervous.

"Indeed they are." Said Muffy, going over to one of the bookcases "In fact…"

The woman got upon a step-stool, looking through the wide array of text both she and her husband had collected over the years. There were just so many books on plants and fruits for the kingdom, some of which only the little family knew of.

After all, would you expect less from the Royal Gardeners?

Aside from the royal family themselves, only a few other people lived on the vast estate of the candy castle and one of those families were the Bing-Bings.

Granted, their home was just the garden quarters and it was nowhere near as large or even as lavish as the livings quarters reserved for more 'dignified' members of the court. In fact, the place was just a two-story cabin, completely DWARFED by the massive castle that loomed beside it but as small as it was, it was home to the Bing-Bings and it was the Bing-Bings that kept the gardens and many of the other foliage of the entire kingdom looking bright and healthy.

It was a job that was rarely spoken of in the castle, the Queen usually saying that the care for the palace was handled by 'the help' but King Tobias was much more modest and truthful when telling others about who and where he got the delectable fruit from. Maybe those of upper-crust did not know but in the village?

In the village it was another story.

In the village, away from the hustle and the bustle of the castle, people knew about the Bing-Bing's creations and their craft as the family would travel to the village and sell their wares to anyone who was interested and once you tasted some of their fruit…

Goodness!

There was nothing as good as a Sunny Peach or a Pink Kissed Strawberry. Whatever plant it was, Ah and Muffy had it and their daughters were always there, watching and learning the tools of the trade from both their parents. Of course, such practices didn't exactly make them RICH as the family made certain that their creations were available to EVERYONE but the four were always well off enough that they could always go about in peace, wanting nothing more than to discover and share new fruits with everyone in the kingdom.

And this party was the perfect chance to showcase it to a whole new set of tastebuds.

"Ah, here we are!"

"Me?" said the father as he looked up. Muffy tittered, tickled by her husband's reaction.

"No, I'm talking about the FRUIT!"

"What is it?" asked Citrusella, as she got up.

"What did you find?" asked Jubileena.

Muffy flipped through the pages of the massive book, stopping on a page that showed forth the most beautiful of fruits. It showed off in so many colors that the twins were certain that the entire page was glowing before them, their eyes fixated on the picture before them.

"THIS…." The blueberry woman began "Is the Rainbow Crystal Berry."

"Rainbow-?"

"Berry?"

Ah nodded, taking the book in his hand "Yes, YES. A summer-fruit. One of much rarity and beauty. The flavor is delicious but it is said it can do various other things as well."

"Like what?" the twins asked.

Ah shut the book, a crafty smile forming on his face.

"They say…." The man began "That who ever eats upon this fruit during the height of the Summer Strawberry Moon gains ultimate power!"

The twins looked at their father with wide eyes, taken in by what they both assumed to be some sort of tale of wonder and adventure. How could such a fruit possess such power?

"Is that-?"

"True?"

Ah smiled down at his girls and laughed, tossing the book over his shoulder.

"The heck should I know? All I know is that these berries do come uncurled from their leaves during the night so that is when we shall find them."

Night?

The two girls looked at each other; they had gone on errands with their parents before for fruit and plants but never at NIGHT.

If it meant they had to go at night, then it must have been REALLY special!

The girls turned towards each other, whispering.

" _Berries that bloom at night?"_

" _Made of crystals?"_

" _Daddy said they don't have powers."_

" _But what if they do?"_

Now the girls were interested.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Ah.

"About what, dear?"

"The girls are old enough. This can be their first night berry picking venture!"

"It sounds lovely." The little woman said in a calm voice, munching on some honey toast "And I'm sure the royal family will love it just as well when we bring them back."

The two girls looked at their parents at the very mention of the royal family.

This was a big job.

A BIG job.

"We can make a trip out of it. Get away from the palace for a while and go camping!" said the father as he began to gather his books "Yes! To be away back into nature! We can find so many new specimens and-!"

*BRIIIIIIIIIING!*

The phone.

Muffy walked over, picking up the receiver.

"Bing-Bing Gardens. This is Muffy-Soufflé Flugpucker Bing-Bing speaking. How may I help you?"

She always knew how to greet someone.

"Ah haaaa…oh, yes. Yes. That sounds AWFUL. Oh! OH! Goodness!"

"What is it?" asked Ah, a concerned look coming upon his face.

Muffy sighed, twirling a finger through her blue locks "Guess who."

"Uuuuuh…Tobias?"

"Nope."

"Aaaaaaaah…Dango?"

"NADA."

"Oh GOBS. It wasn't my Uncle was it?"

"Oh come on, he's not THAT bad."

A spark went off in the man's mind, his hand going into his palm.

"REESE."

"Indeed."

"What's wrong this time?"

"It seems that there is some sort of infestation happening with the roots of the grape vines."

"That sounds horrible!"

"Yes, but you know how Reese is. He sees something he THINKS is a calamity and it turns out it is nothing more than a trick the Princess has played on him."

"Either way…." Said Ah, gather up his equipment "We cannot just ignore him. It might be serious."

Muffy nodded, reaching for her own gear "Yes. And you know how he gets when we're late. And it doesn't get any better when Milka backs him up."

"Don't be hard on them, Muffy. They just like things….ORDERLY."

"So does this mean-?"

"No camping trip?"

The adults stopped, suddenly remembering their daughters were waiting for them.

If only work had not gotten in the way.

"Darlings?" Ah said, approaching his precious children "We need you to stay here. Duty calls."

"But what about-?"

"We can plan for it later." Said Muffy as she put on her pack, the twins wondering just what their mother was carrying "But right now, with as much work we're going to be doing it would be best if you two stay away from the palace garden."

"But what it we-?" said Jubileena.

"Get bored?" finished Citrusella.

"Why don't you play with the Princess? Or Rancis?" asked Ah.

The two girls looked at each other; that was quite the heavy task their father was putting on them.

"Maybe." Said Jubileena.

"Maybe…." Said Citrusella, her words coming out MUCH heavier than her sister's.

Muffy sighed, already aware to the feelings the two harbored "Kids….they need friends too."

"Dear, let's go."

"Alright…" the woman said, looking back at her husband as he got in the car "We'll talk about this later. And we can talk about the camping trip later as well. But for right now, just play safe."

And with that the parents were gone, leaving the two alone in the house.

"This STINKS." Said Jubileena as she walked back towards the ladder to the upstairs room.

"Juju, wait!"

"This ass gonna be our FIRST important berry harvest!" said Jubileena with a pout "But some ugly bugs gotta come in an' ruin it!"

"J-Ju-Ju…." She managed to say, shivering "We've picked berries for the King, the Queen, and the Princess before. What makes this one special?"

"Did ya SEE that berry, Cissy?" the cherry girl said as she jumped to her feet, spinning around "It-! It was like-! It was like a bajillion an' a million sugar diamonds on a berry! An' it looked so good in the book! Imagine what it's gonna look like when we see a bajillion trillion MORE!"

"Oooh. Well, that does sound pretty." Said the blueberry girl as her sister reached down and pulled her from the floor, dancing with her.

"We'll be the first kids in the kingdom to find them! An' when we bring 'em ta the royal family our parents are gonna be so PROUD!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" said Citrusella.

"I know that daddy said they only come from the leaves at night but-"

An idea was already ticking away in the cherry girl's head. She could see the berries in her eyes but she could also see the proud look of her parents once they returned to the home with baskets upon baskets of berries waiting for them.

"Cissy?"

"Ah-huh?"

"We gotta do this on our own."

"WH-MMPH!"

Before the girl in blue could say another word she found her mouth covered by Jubileena.

"Shh! SHHHH!"

A nod; Cissy had gotten the message.

" _We can't let mama an' papa know."_

" _But, it's dangerous to go alone. You know what they've said."_

" _About what?"_

" _About….about all the creatures that lurk around the forest."_ Citrusella said, moving her fingers about, eyes growing wide " _The creepies. The crawlies. OOOOOH!"_

" _That's not scary…."_ Huffed the cherry girl " _An' I've seen scarier things!"_

" _Like what?"_

" _Rancis' dad freakin' out when he finds a gray hair."_ Jubileena laughed cheekily, her twin giggling softly.

"Okay, okay. Maybe we've seen scarier things but…."

"Yeah?"

"I dunno. You know how mommy and daddy get when we go into plants we don't know about. 'Member what happened when we both feel into the poison oatmeal vines?"

Jubileena began to itch herself, feeling the memories coming back in a bad way.

"Urgh, urgh! YEAH! So many baths with that nasty pink lotion."

"That's why daddy doesn't like us going off into the woods alone. And I agree with him."

"Aw, but Cissy!"

"I wanna do something nice for mommy n daddy, I do." Began the blueberry girl "But the forest? By ourselves? At NIGHT?"

"Well, like I said…it won't be AT night if we go NOW." The cherry girl said as she walked over to the desk, pulling out a pad of paper and some colored pencils "We….we can mark a trail! We can make a map an' then when mommy and daddy get back! We can show it to them an' make things so much easier!"

Citrusella thought….

And thought.

And thought.

And thought.

"I dunno…."

"C'mon, Cissy. Ya wanna have fun, ya wanna go on this trip, don'tcha?"

"I-I do…."

"Then what's keepin' ya? I know you're not scared of the dark."

"Well….BEARS."

"We don't see a lotta bears around here."

"Then….hmmmm…skunks?"

"We can see 'em easier durin' tha day!"

"Twelve-legged choco-swamp zombies with three noses dripping boogers, one massive eye, and twenty octo-to-to-topus legs?"

"YOU MADE THAT UP!"

"No I didn't." said the blueberry girl, sure of herself "They said they found something like that. The paper said so."

"Cissy, are ya with me or not?" the cherry twin asked "I don't wanna do this just ta get out. I wanna help mom n' dad. Don't ya?"

"Well….yes. Yes, I do but-!"

"Then?"

Citrusella hesitated, thinking of all the creatures they could possibly run into if they were to go into the forest alone and she knew, there were PLENTY of things lurking around.

But at the same time, she wanted just what Jubileena wanted.

To help her parents.

Citrusella was always so shy, always so troubled when it came to choices but the more she thought about showing everyone in the kingdom that both she and her twin could be just as good as adventurers as they could be gardeners, the more her heart began to pump with enthusiasm.

"Yeah!" the blueberry girl said "Let's do this!"

It didn't take long for the two to get their things together, stuffing their packs with supplies and heading out to the shed.

"We need it?" asked Citrusella.

"We need it." Nodded Jubileena.

The two went into the shed and pulled the covers off a large, wooden vehicle.

A kart.

A TWIN kart.

Sure, it was shaky, a little flimsy and it looked as if it were made from scraps the two had GLUED together but it was THEIR kart.

And they loved it.

"Hook up the hitch!" said Jubileena, her sister hooking an extra carrying compartment that the cherry girl later piled their bags onto.

"Ready to go?"

"Yup!"

Jubileena took the front end, Citrusella took the seat behind her and with the power of both their legs turning-!

They went at a leisurely pace.

*Bring bring!*

"Don't go too far to the castle!" said Jubileena, looking out for their parents "I don't want mom or dad ta see us."

"Righto." Said the blueberry girl, ducking "I think we can make it if we just head this-!"

"An' what are YA two doin' here?"

The two girls nearly flew over the handlebars as a LOUD voice hit their ears. They turned, seeing a small figure in a pink dress smiling smugly towards them.

Wuh-oh.

"P-Princess Vanellope!" stammered Citrusella, Jublieena not sharing her nervousness "Ah! AAH! It's nice seeing you."

"Well, I DO live here." The Princess retorted matter-of-factly "What are YOU doin' here?"

"Um, we're just on our way to town." Citrusella fibbed, wanting nothing to do with the princess or even to let her know the truth of what was going on.

"With all that stuff?"

"Um, we wanted ta trade some things at the market." Said Jubileena, quickly trying to steer things away from Vanellope's suspicions. Her brows furrowed a bit "Why? What's it to ya?"

"Why should I care?" responded the Princess, already not too keen on the cherry twin's mood towards her "Ya can take that ratty ol' junk an' throw it into Diet Cola Mountain for all I care."

"Okay, then let us go." Citrusella said in a soft voice "We don't wanna be late."

"Why aren't ya with your parents here?"

"Huh?"

"I asked…." The girl said, tapping her foot on the ground "Your parents are arguin' with Mr. Reese 'bout some bugs or somethin'. Why aren't ya with them?"

"Mom n' Dad didn't want us ta get in tha way of all that work, I guess." Said Jubileena "They said it was gonna be pretty dirty stuff."

"Well, I thought ya two would be USED ta bein' dirty."

The twins looked surprised at the princess, and her jeer as well.

"Did ya get tha joke?" the princess smiled "Cuz your parents always plant things in tha dirt? An' dirt is dirty?"

Vanellope laughed but the two girls weren't sure how to react, Citrusella looking most confused and upset of all.

"Um, yeah. It was funny." The blueberry girl said, looking down at the pedals of the kart "Uh, we have to-"

"Wait I have another one!" The Princess said "What do you get when ya cross a Bing-Bing with a Ding-Dong?"

"Vanellope, we gotta go."

"A Bing-Dong!" the Princess cut in as she laughed again but the twins were still less then bemused at the joke, their eyes looking back and forth to ensure that no adults were around to spot them.

"Princess, stop." Said Citrusella "We don't want to get caught."

It wasn't enough that the two didn't seem to catch onto her jokes but their feverish attempts to get away from her was starting to peeve the Princess something awful. She pouted, her cheeks puffing out.

"Oooh, I'm sorry. Is goin' to the junk sale THAT important?"

"It's not a JUNK SALE!" shouted Jubileena "An' even if it was, this stuff isn't JUNK."

"Looks like it ta me." The Princess sniffed as she looked at the twins' kart "Did ya make this yourselves? Huh, looks more like ya threw up on it."

"It works, an' that's all that matters." Jubileena huffed back, getting rather annoyed.

"Daddy can buy me karts." The Princess continued "He can buy me karts that can leave this pile of boxes in the dust."

"So?" snapped Jubileena, the only one of the two sisters who was more than ready to stand it up towards Vanellope "What do we care? We have things ta do an' places ta go!"

"Ya think you're gonna get anywhere in THAT thing?" the Princess laughed "I'm surprised ya made it this far without crashin' into anythin'!"

"Juju, let's go." Said Citrusella, the worry clear in her voice "We're losing time."

"BEEP BEEP!"

The two girls looked, Vanellope pretending to drive the double-kart around, running on her tiny little feet.

"Watch out! The Bing-Bings are on the loose an' they're gonna crash everywhere!"

"Vanellope!"

"AAAH! SCREE! OH NO!" the Princess continued "They hit my baby! They hit my dog!"

"We can drive this thing!" Jubileena said in anger, hopping off the seat of her portion of the kart.

"Ta WHERE? Another dirt heap? I mean, that's where all the best plants come from!"

"So what if we like gardenin' an' all that!" said Jubileena "What's wrong with that?"

Vanellope smirked, making certain that the two could see the shining candies in her crown.

"It's just funny. Ya live here on tha palace grounds, ya work here on tha palace grounds but ya sure don't LOOK like ya belong on tha palace grounds."

Something about the girl's words stung the two. The fact had never come to their minds before as they were always far too busy enjoying themselves with their parents to even consider just how detached they were from everyone else in the palace.

They could always see the bright lights and hear the galas that often took place but it never came to their mind that despite being so close, they were as about as far from being Royal as one could get.

It never had hit them.

Until now.

Vanellope laughed again "Your parents are workin' on gettin' some stupid bugs away from tha palace. THAT'S as close as they'll ever get ta tha palace."

"S-So what?" Citrusella spoke up, both a little angry and upset "It's not that we care. We have other things to do."

"Ya mean like root around in the dirt? Dig through the trash to find parts for you kart?" the girl said as she kicked the wheels, trying to purposely set them off.

"Hey, STOP!" shouted Jubileena "It took us a long time to find those!"

"This is better as SCRAP!" Vanellope said as she continued to handle the kart roughly "Mom was right! We don't need stuff like this he-!"

" _ **VANELLOPE!"**_

All three of the girls froze in fear, a commanding voice booming from behind but of them all, Vanellope looked the MOST terrified.

Who was it?

"PRINCESS. VANELLOPE."

The girl turned, the tall figure of her father coming to her eyes.

The ANGER figure of her father.

The king narrowed his eyes and frowned, walking over to his daughter.

"What was that?

"W-What?

"What did you say to these girls?" the King repeated, his voice sounding very rough.

"I-I didn't do anythin'!" the Princess shouted, shaking her head "I was just-!"

"Don't lie to me!" King Tobias said as he marched towards his daughter, taking her by the arm "I heard EVERY word that came out of your mouth!"

"But-!"

"Apologize."

The girl was far too afraid to look at her father eye-to-eye but she forced herself anyway, her body trembling as she did so.

"H-Huh."

"Apologize to them." The King repeated "The Bing-Bings have done this family a great deal over the years and you have no reason to insult them as such."

The twins looked at each other, much too confused and surprised that the KING of Sugar Rush was talking about them. They had always seen him from afar, had always hidden from him whenever he came close so it was so odd, so DIFFERENT to see the King up close in such a manner.

And Vanellope?

She was stuck.

She could not escape but she was not in the apologizing mood. She glared at the twins as her father let go of her arm, crossing them in a huff.

"Young lady…"

"FINE." The girl sniffled "I'm….sorry."

It may not have been truly sincere but having the King around them made things feel a little better for the berry twins, if not a bit awkward as well.

"Um, it's okay." Said Jubileena.

"Yes. It's alright." Said Citrusella.

Vanellope didn't reply, still very sore about having to say such words to, as her mother had put it, the common help of the Kingdom.

"That is not how we behave." The king said, giving his daughter a nudge on her backside with his staff "Do we need to have another talk?"

" _No."_

"I'm sorry. What was that?"

"NO!" Vanellope snapped, going into a bit of a tantrum "Oooooh! Why do ya hafta be so mean, daddy!"

"Young lady-!"

"I'm goin' ta mummy!" the Princess cried "You're bein' mean ta me."

"Wait! VANELLOPE!"

But it was too late, the girl running up the marble-cake stairs into the palace. Tobias sighed, the worries rushing back to him.

"Heavens….if that girl isn't doing one thing…."

The man shook his head, remembering her had other subjects to attend to.

"Girls, I am sorry about that. Vanellope has been acting really strange lately and-!"

He turned….

And the girls were gone.

"Miss Jubileena? Miss Citrusella?"

Not a trace of either could be found…

Except…..

The man looked down, finding a folded up piece of paper on the ground. He picked it up, unfolding it to reveal colorful scribbles drawn upon it.

"Is this….is this a MAP?"

* * *

"Don't worry, Cissy!" Jubileena said as she and her sister pedaled their way toward the woods "We're almost there!"

Citrusella said nothing, her legs continuing on the journey.

"Don't ya have anythin' ta say?"

"Juju?"

The two stopped, the tires only a hair off from where the land crossed into the woods.

"Yeah?"

"Um…."

The blueberry twin rubbed her hands nervously, her lip quivering.

"Cissy?"

"Is it true?" the blue twin asked the other "I-is it true that we're just dirt diggers or whatever the Princess said?"

A sour expression came upon Jubileena's face, the echoes of the Princess' words making her angry.

"Forget about what she says."

"Huh?" Citrusella sniffled, a small tear rolling off her cheek "What do you mean?"

"She can stay up in her fancy castle an' with all her fancy toys but while she's doin' nothin' we're gonna find tha berry that's gonna make our family FAMOUS."

"You mean it?"

"YES!" Jubileena cheered, her excitement rising "We'll show her! Soon, everyone is gonna know tha name Bing-Bing! Because we're gonna show tha world tha biggest haul of Crystal Berries EVER!"

"And mommy and daddy?"

Jubileena looked back at her sister, a soft smile on her face.

"With that money….we can get them a new house. We can buy a house that'll make Vanellope look so dinky n' stinky! She'll have ta sleep outside!"

"Um, I'm not sure if I want that much to happen to-!"

"C'mon, Cissy. Let's go." The red twin said, determination in her voice "Ya with me?"

Citrusella turned her focus back on the village, suddenly realizing just how FAR the two had traveled on their own. Usually, they had only gone so far in the accompaniment of their parents but there they were.

Alone.

And the woods were starting to look more and more intimidating.

But then she remembered what Vanellope had said; how she had made fun of them, how she had made fun of their PARENTS.

The sisters knew how hard their parents worked, how much they loved their job and to hear the Princess talking about them in such a way.

Soon Citrusella was starting to feel the same fire as Jubileena.

She gripped the bars of her portion of the kart, looking into the air.

"Let's go!"


	11. Winterpop Wonderland P1

Winterpop Wonderland Part 1

There is an island about an hour north of the Sugar Rush kingdom. Once upon a time, a great stretch of land made is accessible by foot but as time went on, the great ocean covered it up, making the pass hard to get to by anything but boat or plane. Years before that, the kingdom of Sugar Rush would converse with the small land of the North, the people from both lands forming a bond with one another.

But as the ocean swallowed up the pass, the communication seemed to stop.

For the longest time, the two lands didn't speak, they didn't trade. And while Sugar Rush grew and grew, the snowy land of the North languished. There were talks a few years ago when the leaders of both lands meet but there was still unrest, there was still worry.

The kingdom of the North worried that their land, their home, their world would be swallowed up by the ever expanding Kingdom, to be a former shadow of itself.

Magistrate Chipwich and his wife Denali had plans. They were to talk with the King and his queen about keeping the northern land independent from the kingdom but continue to work together, to continue to thrive. Chipwich and Tobias knew that in order for both kingdoms to survive they needed help, they needed strength in numbers and that could not be achieved with either lands fighting nor ignoring each other.

That was then.

But Chipwich and Denali are now gone.

"Magistrate Bomba!"

Bomba nearly snapped her pen in two as he heard the sound of a herald rushing into the office.

"Yes, what is it?" the woman growled, trying her best to keep her temper in check.

"We have gotten word from the villagers near the East Harbor that another peir has broken!" said the peppermint herald. Bomba's brows creased as she felt her throat tighten in anger.

ANOTHER issue to contend with.

"We just had that repaired…." The woman said, getting up from her desk, the tiny candy man shaking at the massive figure before him.

"Y-Y-Yes, ma'am. B-B-but you know we can only do so much. It's not as if our hammers can fix things in one-!"

"Tell everyone not to worry…." The woman said as she reached for her coat and hat "I'll will be there as soon as possible but relay to those down by the docks. Keep away from the derbies, don't go near the water. We don't need anyone else getting hurt."

"Yes, ma'am." The candy man bowed as she quietly tip-toed out of the office. Alone, Bomba turned towards the window, seeing the fresh snow floating down upon the village below.

She remembered when things were so much easier, when things looked so much better. The village was filled with lights and so much cheer despite the bitter cold around them. It never matted that compared to other kingdoms, their own was so small.

Everyone knew that things would be okay.

But that was a long time ago.

The woman turned, seeing the massive picture of the great family on the wall. It had been years since it was painted but every time she looked upon it, the memories felt so fresh, so new.

There was Chipwich.

Dear, Chipwich.

" _Chip?"_

" _Yeah, sis?"_

" _What are ya gonna do when you're in charge?"_

" _When I'm in charge? That's a long way away, Bomba!"_

" _I bet your gonna make our kingdom HUGE! It'll be the best ice kingdom in the world!"_

" _Maybe."_

" _Why aren't ya excited? I'd be excited if I were gonna be in charge."_

" _I dunno, sis. I just wanna enjoy things now. Have some fun with ya before we get too old ta do things like that."_

" _Too old?"_

" _When we're big. I dunno if we'll have time ta have fun like this. I wanna be a good leader, right?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Well, I gotta learn how ta act like one an' a leader doesn't act silly."_

" _Hmmmm."_

" _Bomba?"_

" _I don't care!"_

" _About what?_

" _Even when we're big, I know we can still have fun! An' you're gonna be tha bestest leader this kingdom has ever had! I know ya will!"_

" _With that kinda energy….makes me wish ya could be leader, stead of me."_

She remembered what he had said that day.

The way he said it, with a smile.

It was almost prophetic.

No.

Don't think like that, Bomba.

DON'T.

The woman shook her head, putting her hat on as she marched towards the doors of the great office, throwing them open so hard that the sound echoed across the massive halls.

"EVERYONE!"

The candy people shook at Bomba's presence, her cold eyes cutting through them.

"Ropes, woods, hammer and nails. Gather them up!"

"Your Magistrate?"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO DAWDLE!" the woman boomed, rushing towards the stables "We have people who need help! MOVE!"

Many eyes were on the woman as she marched down the halls….but there was a set of two who found themselves the most intrigued of all.

"Auntie Bomba really knows how to get people going." Said the first girl, her frosty purple hair tied back into two long braids. A smaller child huddled near her, her features nearly the same save her for single dark blue braid.

"I hate it when she gets angry like that…." Shivered the smaller girl "She's always so mad, always so loud."

"Well, this is what it's like bein' leader, Beezie." Said the first girl "Sometimes…sometimes ya gotta take command a'things like this."

The two girls remained on the second floor, their forms going unnoticed as the others prepared for the emergency.

"Adorabeezle?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"C'mon." said the second girl "I wanna help Auntie!"

"Nougetsia, wait!" said the smaller Popsicle girl "W-We might not be able to-!"

Before the younger of the two could protest, she found herself down on the main floor surrounded by the flood of candy people who were still gathering around with their supplies.

"Okay, we have the rope, first-aid kits…." Bomba said, getting herself organized "We just need-!"

"AUNTIE!"

The woman stopped in place, crumpling up the paper in her hand. She looked about, seeing her held petrified in fear before her but she KNEW the sound couldn't have come from them.

"Auntie, down here!"

Adorabeezle?

Nougetsia?

Caught in the moment, the large woman continued to eye the children, the motions inverted as she now felt cornered by everyone else. She snapped to, returning to her normal face.

"C-Children!" she said, trying to sound as commanding as possible "What are you doing here?"

"We just wanted to see what you were doing, Auntie." Said Nougetsia "An' we wanted to see if we could help."

One look in her eyes and it was easy to see that Bomba would have hit the roof had she not restrained herself.

"HELP!? There's a crisis going on right now and there is now way I am going to let either of you-!"

"But Auntie!" the older child said "We need ta learn from you if we're to be good leaders of this kingdom right?"

"Yes, YES." The large woman said, her nerves starting to rise "But not right now. Maybe later."

"You say that all the time." Nougetsia pouted, refusing to give up against Bomba "You said that last week, the week before, the week before that! When can we go out with you, Auntie?"

" _ **GOB DAMN IT, YOU TWO! I'VE GOT WORK TO WORRY ABOUT!"**_

That got everyone quiet.

Even if a pin were to drop, IT would be too scared to make a sound.

The two girls were petrified as they stood before their aunt, Adorabeezle more so than her sister.

There was no use in hiding it; Bomba had once again gone too far and as a result?

Adorabeezle tore off to the chamber rooms in tears.

"Ah! AH, Beezie!" shouted Nougetsia as she followed her sister upstairs "Wait! Don't run away!"

"Girls, hold on-!" Bomba cried out as she took a step towards the stairs "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-!"

"BOMBA!"

The woman turned back, seeing her helpers heading out the door.

"We need you, NOW!"

Darn it.

The girls needed her but so did the villagers.

Here was some hesitation but Bomba knew she could wait no longer. With a growl, and a heavy feeling in her heart, she turned towards the doors and rushed off.

"They'll be fine." Said one of the candy helpers "One of the staff shall see to their needs."

The staff?

If the girls needed anyone at the moment, it was BOMBA.

But now, they were alone.

Adorabeezle hid under her bed, sobbing as she clutched onto her stuff yeti.

"Why is she always so mad?"

"I dunno…." Said Nougetsia, the girl laying just above her sister on the bed "She's always like that."

The smaller girl sniffled "Not always…..Auntie didn't always used to be like that."

"Huh?"

"Don't you remember? I-I know it was a long time ago and we were both so little but…."

The small girl took in a breath, trying her best to stop crying.

"Do you think….do you think Auntie is mad because papa is gone?"

Nougetsia didn't respond, the very mention of the word 'PAPA' making her heart skip, her hold on the pillow she had becoming tighter.

"Remember….remember when we all went out to the coast?" the smaller girl continued "Me, you? Mama an' papa….an' Auntie?"

Nougetsia remained silent.

"Papa had declared it a day of rest for everyone but the way he an' mama were acting around Auntie. Everything they did to get her to just smile."

"Y-Yeah….I remember."

"An' when she did…."

"You remember all of that?"

Adorabeezle looked, her sister peeking her head under the bed.

"H-Huh?"

"You remember all of that?" the older girl said "I….I don't. I mean, it feels like it was so long ago an' you were only two so-?"

"I just remember it because it felt like the only time everyone was together…." The smaller girl said "After that….."

The two fell hush, one particular memory coming to them.

The morning was grey and cold.

The two girls could remember the shouting, the yelling.

They could remember….

Bomba.

Auntie.

She was crying.

Why was she crying?

"I think…."

Nougetsia clutched her knees closer to her chest, shutting her eyes tight.

"She just wants to make things right." The girl said "Back then, that was papa's job….but now that he's gone, she had to take over. She only wants tha best for everyone."

Adorabeezle slowly crept from under the bed, sitting next to her older sister "But….but it makes her so upset. And when she gets upset, she gets so scary…."

"I know." Nodded the older girl.

" _Don't you think we should do something?"_

"I want to, Beezie." Nougetsia piped in, her younger sister seeing the glistening of the elder's eyes "But ya wanna know somethin'?"

"Ah-huh?"

"I'm kinda scared of Auntie, too."

The two sat alone in the room, silence between them deafening.

What could they do?

What could they say?

"I wanna make Auntie happy."

"I do too, Beezie."

"I wanna see her smile again, Nougie."

"I do to."

Adorabeezle held tight to her doll, squeezing it closer and closer as she remembered the looks, remembered the faces.

The smiles.

She wanted to see her Auntie smile again.

She knew she was scared, she knew she was nervous but-

She got up.

"Beezie?" asked the older girl "Where are ya goin'?"

* * *

"Alright, you on the left! Grab this!"

A candy villager took a hold of the rope, pulling it as tight as they could.

"Cover me! I'm going to dive in!"

The second candy village looked in HORROR at the words of its leader "Wait! DIVE IN?! FOR WHAT?!"

"Someone has to hold the dock up!" Bomba said, pulling off her heavy coat "If we don't have proper support, this whole thing will sink!"

"But we can have lift it using one of the sleds!" cried a concerned candy person "We can just call them out here and-!"

"There's no time!" Bomba said, rushing into the water and bracing from the cold "We have only minutes before this thing sinks!"

"MAGISTRATE BOMBA!"

She took in a breath full of air….and down she went.

" _Why did you yell at them, why did you yell at them?!"_ The woman thought to herself as she swam through the water " _Those kids only want to help and what did you do?! You roared at them like some sort of maddened Yeti!"_

Bomba saw the bottom end of the pier, her legs kicking faster as her hands brushed underneath it.

" _Gotta get this right."_

The lower end was already starting to break away and Bomba could feel the weak wood bending against her palms. If those on top could not pull it back into place, the whole thing would go under. The water was freezing and her chest was starting to ache from the lack of air but she had to lift if it up as best she could.

She had to.

She HAD to!

Any great leader would do so!

The candy people on top gathered around and pulled but it was no easy task, the boards of the small pier creaking and groaning but so was Bomba.

Of course, part of her mind was focus on other things.

" _What should I say when I get back?! I mean, is it a good idea to even go back at this point? Should I give them some time to rest, to calm down? What should I do?"_

Denali.

That's who she needed.

Chip AND Denali.

They knew Adorabeezle and Nougetsia better!

They were their-!

" _ **MAGISTRATE!"**_

Bomba felt herself shoot upwards, stopping herself a second before she hit her head on the bottom of the pier. Thankfully, there was a small pocket of air for her to breath but even with her air filling her lungs she was not out of the woods yet.

" _What now?!"_

She could hear the wood creaking and breaking behind her, the rotted planks slipping from her grasp.

"No! NO NO NO!"

It was too late; the dock was on its way down.

" _Magistrate!"_ called a voice from above, the sound muffled from the water.

" _Can she hear us?!"_

" _Oh, no! What if she's DROWNED!"_

"No, no! Things are fine! I'M FINE!" the woman called, realizing that she had to get back to the shore as soon as possible "Give me a mome-!"

She readied herself to dive back under water but she felt something tug upon her leg.

"W-What-?!"

She inhaled deeply and ducked back into the water only to find that her pant leg had been caught upon the rocks. She pulled but there was too much of a tangle for her to get free.

Hurry, HURRY!

She reached for the knife on her belt, cutting away as fast as she could but the docks were still collapsing on top of her. Up above, the candy people fought with all their strength combined to hold the toppling wood back, to keep their leader from being crushed but it was far too heavy for them.

"E-Everyone!" the leader of the candy shouted, his own feet dragging through the mud-soaked snow "C-C'mon! Don't let go."

Bomba cut as fast as she could, finally freeing herself but as she did the final plank gave away and came crashing down. She could feel the looming weight above her and as she turned, the darkness surrounded her. The water began to churn and swirl but Bomba wasn't going to allow herself to get trapped, not when she knew that an entire village counted on her.

She threw herself forward, powerful arms and legs carrying her just far enough from the collision.

Or so she thought.

The weight of the collapsing pier dragged mud and other debris into the water, causing a thick sludge to cloud the woman's view. She could feel that she wasn't that far from air so she headed up but the water was far too dark and there was too much going on around her! She couldn't see, she couldn't feel where she was going and-!

BAM!

There was a gurgled cry as a heavy THUD landed upon her head. The pain rippled for a second but things began to fade, began to slow. She wanted to move but her arms and legs felt so heavy, the coldness of the water fading.

Fading….

 _Fading….._

" _We will be gone for a week."_

" _A week? Th….that seems like an awfully long time, brother."_

" _Oh, come now Bomba. You've gone on excursions longer than that."_

" _Perhaps, but trips only required me to represent this land. I've…I've never had to care for the entire village."_

" _Oh, and is there a problem with that?"_

" _Chipwich! I-! I-!"_

" _Yes?"_

" _This is not my role?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Chip, YOU'RE first born! YOU'RE the one who is supposed to be in charge! NOT ME!"_

" _Lady Bomba."_

" _Denali?"_

" _Why must you always question your abilities like this?"_

" _Excuse me?"_

" _Your brother has great faith in you, and so do I."_

 _W-Wait, don't tell me-!"_

" _What I'm telling you, Bomba, is that you too are a wonderful leader. Your order of birth should have nothing to do with your skills."_

" _I…I thank you for the words of encouragement but really you two? I have no real experience leading so many people or…or even taking care of the children."_

" _But Bomba."_

" _Y-yes, brother?"_

" _The girls LOVE you and they've waited so long to actually spend more time with you."_

" _Maybe so…."_

" _Bomba, we will be gone but a week. I know that it seems like such a time for you but I know you can take care of this land."_

" _Why do you say such things?"_

" _Because I BELIEVE it, sis. No matter what the rules of this land say, no matter the order….I've always felt that between the both of us, you were much more suited for this role than I was."_

" _W…what?"_

" _Bomba."_

" _Chipwich, what is it."_

" _Bomba!"_

" _Chip! SAY SOMETHING!"_

 _ **BOMBA!**_

" **CHIP!"**

Bomba shot up, looking right into the light!

Was this the end?

Why did it smell like coco?

" _Urgh, my head…."_

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake Magistrate." Came the voice of a relieved candy doctor, the aforementioned cup of coco in their hand.

Bomba looked around, finding herself in her grand chamber and gown. She turned, the sun having set some time ago.

"Ooow…."

"Not so fast, not so fast."

"W-What happened?" the woman moaned, reaching up and feeling the bandages on her head.

"Well, the good news is that you're injuries are not as extensive as we first feared. Just a light bump on the head, some cuts on your back and-!"

"THE DOCKS!"

The candy doctor nearly fell to the floor, Bomba looking around in desperation.

"What happened at the-?!"

"Th-the docks…." The candy said as they clumsily got back to their feet "Ma'am, they broke apart."

"What?!"

"I am sorry but that is what happened. You should thank your nieces that-!"

"Hold on a moment…." The woman said, looking right upon the candy doctor "Adorabeezle? Nougetsia? What…what did they do?!"

Once more, Bomba's size had done its job in muting the tiny candy person, the doctor clutching their chart against his chest.

Should he tell her the truth?

Bomba looked over, seeing the two girls wrapped in blankets and in their PJs, asleep on the side chair.

And Adorabeezle still had her stuffed yeti in her arms.

A sinking feeling formed in Bomba's stomach, her worry no longer on the docks but on the children who lay before her.

"Please leave."

"OH!" gasped the doctor "O-oh, yes! Right Magistrate Bomba!"

Perhaps he already knew what was going to be discussed for as the candy left, there was a bit of a smile on his face. He didn't know why but he felt that something good would finally rise from all of the chaos that had happened during the earlier hours.

Now alone, Bomba crept over to the girls, her nervousness rising the closer she got.

" _They look just like us…."_ The woman said to herself, her heart beating faster and faster " _I…I can see both of us in them."_

What was she talking about?

Just the very sight of the two before her were bring back a flood of memories, memories that Bomba had always made certain to keep away. She couldn't bring them up for if she did, they would bring her down, they would make her weak.

"Don't you dare…."

" _We're gonna be together forever, Bomba!"_

"Oh, Gobs. Please stop!"

" _We're going to make this village the best it can be, Chip!"_

Tear began to roll down the woman's cheeks "Stop crying!"

" _ **IT SANK?!"**_

 _ **NO!**_

Bomba felt herself drop, unable to go any further as she fell to her knees right before the girls. She felt herself choke up but she forced it all back, she pushed the tears back, the sadness.

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" she cried to herself "Stop being so weak, Bomba! You can't be weak now! THE VILLAGE IS-!"

"A-Auntie?"

Bomba froze once more as she looked up, the girls coming out of their slumber.

No.

No, why did they have to see her like this?

When she was at her weakest?

"G-G-Girls!"

"Auntie" Adorabeezle said "A-Auntie, are you-?!"

The smaller girl could only see the bandages on her Aunt's head and quickly thought the worst. She instantly burst into tears, her high pitch wails echoing through the halls.

"Adorabeezle, stop!" Bomba said, trying her best and failing at calming the child down "Beezie, stop!"

"You're hurt!" the girl cried out even louder "We did everything we could and you still got hurt!"

"What do you mean by that?" the woman said, looking curiously at her nieces. Nougetsia shrunk back in fear, refusing to look her aunt in the eyes.

"You two, what happened?" the woman asked, her usual angered tone having disappeared "You…you two DID follow me down to the docks, didn't you?!"

Nougetsia knew that Adorabeezle wasn't going to be answering to anything, not with the way she was crying, but even she couldn't get her voice up. She tried to reply but the only thing that came out was a squeak.

"Y-Y-!"

"GIRLS!"

"YES!" Nougetsia said, bursting into tears herself.

"Why?! Why would do you that?!"

"W-We just wanted to help!" the youngest of the girls said "We knew you were so busy but-!"

"Girls, that was no place for you to be….."Bomba sighed, feeling the energy draining from her the more the two girls continued to cry "So why in the WORLD would you even think-?"

"We're sorry, okay?" said Nougetsia "We just didn't want you to get hurt."

"Nougetsia…." The woman sighed "I'd think you'd be better than that. Leading your little sister all the way down there because-!"

"It's not her fault."

Both Bomba and Nougetsia looked, seeing the tiny form of Adorabeezle hunched into the crook of the couch, her toy yeti to her chest.

"I…I was the one who told Nougetsia to go to the docks…."

"YOU?"

The small girl nodded "Y-Yes. I…I wanted to show you that I wasn't scared. That even in an emergency, we can help."

"That….you didn't have to do that." Bomba said, lost for words "It was stupid, it was foolish."

"But then we saw the docks fall apart!" Adorabeezle shouted "And-! And we knew that you were in the water so we both went in and-!"

Bomba felt her heart leap into her throat; she was correct in her guess that the two had followed her but she had no idea they would risk their own lives to go in AFTER her!

"You didn't!" she said "I-! It's bad enough what I did! But going after me?! You could have been killed!"

"We couldn't leave you!" said Nougetsia "So…so Beezie an' I jumped in an' swam as far as we could! We couldn't lift ya up but….but we did have some rope…."

"And we tied it around you…" the younger sister continued "And when we got back up, everyone was pulling you to the surface."

That's what they had done.

That's why they had left.

Bomba had yelled at them, she had gotten mad at them but despite all of it, despite it all, they had gone after her. They had risked their own lives just to save hers.

"Why…" the woman gulped back, feeling an odd sensation coming over her, almost as if the three were no longer alone in the room "Why did you do that?"

"Auntie…" Adorabeezle sniffled " _We….we love you._ "

LOVE.

That was the word.

" _Bomba, I love you."_

How long had it been since she heard those words?

It had been a long time, such a long time. The word made her stop, it made her think, it made her….hurt. It was a word she WANTED to hear but at the same time, with all the happiness it brought, there was also some pain. The pain of remembering a face that had long since vanished of remember his voice. The voice that had always reminded her that despite it all, it never mattered if she were second-born, that she was never meant to be leader.

She was loved.

But she wasn't ready to show it yet.

She just could not convince herself to face the truth of it all.

"Auntie?" asked Nougetsia "A-are ya okay?"

The woman took the two girls in her arms and carried them to their beds.

"We will discuss this in the morning…." She said, her voice firm but there was a new sense of warmth to it "For now, go to sleep. The both of you."

The girls uttered not a word, nodding towards their guardian as the lights were shut off and the door closed.

But behind the door, Bomba weakened again.

She placed her back on the door and looked down into the hall.

Adorabeezle had dropped her yeti doll.

HER doll.

* * *

The next morning came the summary of the damage. With the dock in such ill condition it meant even more lose to the village. They would be unable to set their boats to go fishing, to continue to trade and commute.

But there was so little money, so little material.

Bomba knew the signs were there.

She needed help.

"I hate to do this…but I need to see the King."

A few of her candy staff murmured in worry, looking among themselves.

"But….but it has been so long. Not since King Hershel and your brother has there-!"

"I know what the old King, rest his soul, said! I know what my Brother said! I know….."

There was no point in trying to deny it now…

"I know what I said…." The woman continued "But perhaps…perhaps an agreement can be made. I mean, at this point we have no other choice! We're at our limits as it is and unless we want this village to go under-!"

Bomba stopped, looking at the door to see two pairs of eyes trying to spy on her.

There they were.

The woman scowled, putting her arms behind her back.

"Gentlemen, pack our things."

"OUR?" asked one of the candy helpers "Who else should we-?"

"I need MY things as do the girls." The woman continued, gathering up some papers "The three of us are heading to the Kingdom of Sugar Rush."

" _ **SUGAR RUSH?!"**_

"Beezie!"

At the mere mention of the kingdom, Adorabeezle flung herself through the door, stopping at her Aunt's feet.

"We're…We're going to SUGAR RUSH?!"

"I don't see why not." Bomba replied, her face still ice-cold serious "And it would be good for these two girls to see the world outside of the Tundra, to meet their neighbors and future partners."

The girls looked at each other; they had NEVER once stepped outside of the little village and to suddenly be whisked away to Sugar Rush, a place they had only hear and seen pictures of?

It was quiet the surprise.

Bags were packed, plans were made and before the girls knew it they were off, charting on their boat across the vast ocean towards this strange kingdom called Sugar Rush.

"Have you ever been there, Auntie?" asked Adorabeezle, feeling excited as she looked at clear blue horizon.

Bomba kept her focus on the water, having not moved an inch "Once."

"Once?"

"When I was….well, not that much younger."

"Was it fun?" asked Nougetsia.

"It was…eventful."

They were passing it.

Passing the spot.

"Auntie?"

Bomba's eyes slid over towards her nieces, the look of worry clear on their faces.

" _We're going to Sugar Rush again Bomba!"_

" _The storm looks like it's getting worse."_

" _We've lost contact with the ship."_

" _We found something!"_

" _No survivors!"_

" _The Magistrate is D-!"_

"Girls, please….I just need time to concentrate. We can discuss more once we get to land."

Just when it seemed that Bomba was coming out of her shell….

It was noon by the time the boat hit land, the docks cleared as the guest arrived. Bomba looked around, surprised to find that there were no familiar faces around.

"Where's….where's Tobias?" the woman thought to herself "At the very least, I would have thought REESE would be here but-!"

"Excuse me."

A gloomy voice caught the woman's attention and after looking around a moment, she peered down to see the person to which the voice belonged to.

"Excuse me."

A green candy man?

"Er, yes?"

"I am Sour Bill…." The candy man droned on, not looking too impressed at Bomba or her nieces "I have been sent down by the Royal family to greet you, Magistrate."

Bomba knew better than to stare, getting into position as she stood in salute.

"YES, SOUR BILL!" she roared, once again scaring a few people around her "I apologize for coming to the Kingdom in such short notice!"

Bill covered his ears and shuddered; only a few days on the job and he was already feeling stressed out.

"That is fine. We have a coach waiting for you that will take you to the Palace."

Adorabeezle and Nougetsia were in AWE at the vehicle, having never seen anything like it before in their lives.

"Look at those wheels!" said Nougetsia.

"Look at the color!" said Adorabeezle.

Bomba could feel a smile forming but she stopped; the way the girls were giggling and going on about the coach was cute but she couldn't break her stance.

From the way they were going on about it, one would think they wanted to DRIVE it.

"Come on, girls. We need to get to our lodgings." Bomba said as she plucked her nieces off the ground and carried them to the car "And maybe once I am done with the King, perhaps we can look around."

"Yeah!" cheered Nougetsia "Doesn't that sound great, Beezie!"

The smaller girl nodded, feeling giddy but a little nervous as well. As fun as it was being in a new kingdom she couldn't push back all her fears. She could see smaller candy children running about the square but then-

"Who are all of these people?" Bomba asked, noticing that there were a few more HUMANOID figures around the kingdom than she remembered.

"They're visiting for an event…." Sour Bill said, looking not at all interested in what was going on just a few yards away.

"Wonderful…" Bomba huffed "As if it weren't bad enough that the docks collapse, am I interrupting Tobias during an important time?"

"Do not worry, ma'am. The King said he would be able to make time for you." The green candy man said "But in light of things, maybe we should-!"

 _ **SHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRK!**_

"HOLY GOB STOPPERS!"

The coach jolted forward as it narrowly avoided coming into contact with another car, Bomba looking out the window just in time to see a flash of pink barreling down the road.

"What in the name of-!"

"HANG ON!"

Something within Bomba snapped and without a moment's hesitation she leapt upon her nieces and ducked for cover, the timing perfect as not a second later the coach collided with a light pole, the thing crashing down into the busy crowd.

"OUTTA THA CAR!" Bomba barked as she picked up her nieces, Sour Bill and somehow managed to reach in the front and grab the driver as well.

"AH, AUNTIE!"

Perhaps it was just pure instincts that Bomba was working on but whatever it was, the woman came TUMBLING out of the coach only to crash right into the wall of a nearby shop, losing her grip and dropping everyone into the mess.

"Who was THAT?!" Nougetsia asked as she got to her feet, looking about as more and more people began to gather around the accident site.

There were far too many people and far too many questions being asked for Nougetsia to get a proper answer and before she knew it-

"Auntie Bomba?! Beezie?!"

Who else was she with?

" _ **GREEN GUY WHO'S NAME I CAN'T REMEMBER!?"**_


	12. The Yokans, The Zakis and Chestnuts P2

The Yokans, The Zakis and Chestnuts Part 2

It was time for chestnut hunting.

The two sweet sisters knew that it would be best for their husbands and their daughters to go outside in the fresh air, possibly to clear up the early fight that had occurred.

"I am going with the Stix n' Tori." Koni said as she pushed Gashi towards Dango "YOU can head out with Big Don and his group."

"W-What?!" the slim man sputtered, looking down at the disappointed Sticky "But dear-! Ya know Stix an' I usually-!"

"Ah-bah-bahp!" the woman said, bopping the man on his forehead with her fingers "Don't say another word mister. Spend some time with your other family members an' besides!"

"Besides?"

"You're gonna have MINTY with ya!" the woman beamed as she handed her husband the disgruntled looking child "If there are any bears out there, she can handle 'em! _**BYE!**_ "

"B-But Koni! WAIT!"

TOO LATE.

Before the man could object, Koni had disappeared down the trail with her other two daughters, leaving Gashi along with not only his uninterested daughter but his 'extended' family as well. Hanami seemed friendly enough, the woman smiling at him.

"Well, are you ready?"

But Dango and Sakura?

They seemed less than pleased.

The man looked down, noticing his angered daughter; she didn't look like she wanted to join in on the hunt either but by this point she had no choice. No one had a choice. It was a bitter candy they all had to swallow and with a moan and a shake of the head….

"Let's go." Gashi mumbled, leading his three guest down the path.

The air was comfortable, the sun bright and the air sweet as the five went down the path and it didn't take long for them to find a collection of chestnut trees, their fruit ready for the picking.

"You know, I've never picked chestnuts myself before." Hanami said with a sweet tone towards Gashi.

"Really?"

"Nope." The woman tittered to herself "You know Koni and me. We're city girls! In fact, Koni never even saw a real ryokan until-!"

"U-Until she came here…." The slim man blushed "Yeah, I know. She tells me all the time."

"She tells me other things as well…" the older woman said, Gashi feeling a little embarrassed "Mostly how much she loves spending time with you."

As if the man couldn't turn any redder!

"Funny ya say that…" he grumbled "Loves spendin' time with me? Abandons me at tha first chance when I need her!"

What was that for?

"I cannot believe this!" the group heard a deep voice grump "I cannot believe that I, tha GREAT Dango Poco Yokan, has ta go CHESTNUT pickin', like some-! Some-! Some country bumpkin!"

Gashi glanced over towards his brother-in-law, an angry glint easily seen through the lenses of his glasses. Hanami moved over to the man, taking his chin in-between her delicate fingers.

"Don't act as if you're above such things." The woman cooed teasingly "Because if I recall, a certain someone _**I**_ know very closely is a country bumpkin himself."

The big man blushed, caught in his own words.

" _Dear, need ya go into such things at a time like this?!"_

"Ya know, DANGO." The thinner man said in a harsh tone "Chestnut pickin' is a loved tradition in my family."

Dango huffed and rolled his eyes, the man clearly not impressed.

"Ah, yes. When my family first settled in this area all we had were these trees around us, nothin' else. My Grandfather used to tell me when he was a boy how durin' those cold winter nights tha chestnuts kept his families bellies full an' when spring came-!"

"Ah-ha, now I am SURE that is a WONDERFUL tale…." Dango interrupted "But I do believe that it is best that we put our concentration forward on makin' sure we collect enough chestnuts."

It was OBVIOUS that the big man didn't want to hear another word from his 'brother'. In fact, he didn't want to be around him but as things were he had no choice. Might as well have one satisfaction in saving himself from a tale about the history of some old inn.

"Hey, hey! What are ya doin'?!" shouted Minty as she rushed over to Sakura, the girl holding onto a chestnut with her gloves.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Don'tcha check chestnuts before ya throw 'em in your basket?" Minty growled, swiping the nut from her cousin's hand and inspecting it "See?"

"See what?"

Minty raised the nut, showing Sakura that there was a worm inside.

"Ya put this in with tha others an' it spoils tha whole bunch! We cudda had our entire day wasted if ya didn't-!"

"Oh, what kinda bug is that?" Sakura beamed.

"What?" blinked Minty "I dunno! Sticky is tha one that knows all tha stuff 'bout bugs an' things! Ya should ask HER!"

"Well, I CAN'T ask her since she's with your MOM!" Sakura huffed back "I would have thought that ya knew something about the bugs here since you stay out here all the time!"

"Oh, so just because I live in tha country it means I roll around with bugs?!" Minty shouted back "YOU seem fine with 'em enough, or is it just SPIDERS that bother ya Miss Princess!"

"I AM NOT A PRINCESS!" Sakura shouted "I am-!"

"Girls, stop!" Gashi shouted, trying his best to separate the two "Goodness, you're gonna roar louder than the train!"

"The train?" Sakura asked curiously "What train?"

"There's a train that goes past here not too far up the path…." Gashi smiled "Durin' tha summer months, we get a lotta people who travel on it. It's really nice."

"And is this as far as it goes?" asked Sakura.

"No, actually it goes to tha ocean." Smiled the girl's uncle "Back then, it was tha only way ta get there before they made a path for tha roads. It's still popular though since it usually takes a lotta effort ta make it through here by car."

"Daddy?"

Dango shook, his eyes looking darker than normal "Yes, honey?"

"Why didn't we take the train up to the ocean? It seems like a lotta fun and-!"

Dango twitched again, the children not taking notice though the adults did. Gashi gave Hanami a quick and worried look, the woman rushing towards her big husband.

"And I've never been on a train before! Maybe when we stop filing we can ride on it the way ba-?"

" _ **NO!"**_ bellowed Dango, his deep voice booming throughout the entire forest. Both candy children jumped back, Sakura ESPECIALLY surprised as she had never seen her father react in such a way.

At least when Sea Bananas weren't involved.

" _ **WE ARE NOT GETTIN' ON THAT TRAIN! WE ARE NOT STOPPIN' AT THAT STTION! WE ARE NOT GOIN' ANYWHERE NEAR THAT PLACE! DO YA HEAR ME?!"**_

"OH! Oh, but daddy!"

"Enough Sakura! Go back with Minty an' keep searching for those walnuts!"

"Chestnuts." Correct Gashi "They are CHESTNUTS!"

"Beechnuts, almonds! Hazelnuts _a boc_! Can we just get enough of 'em so we can head back?! _**PLEASE?!"**_

" _ **DANGO!"**_ Hanami glared at her love "What has gotten into you! This is no way to treat family!"

The man scowled at his wife, taking her roughly by the wrist and pulling her away from the others. Gashi felt his spine tingle, worried that he had said the wrong thing to spark a confrontation between the two but as they stood away, the rest could only hear the hushed argument between them. Sakura felt scared as she knew that her parents would often tease each other, Hanami coming out on top more often than her father, she had never really seen them FIGHT before, especially in public.

"Just stay here!" Hanami snapped as she walked away from Dango.

"Don't ya dare turn away from me-!"

"No, don't _**YOU**_ dare try to justify this! The way you're behaving, especially towards Gashi and in front of the children!? Dango, how could you?!"

The man inhaled deeply, puffing out his chest " _You know why. Don't pretend that you don't!"_

"It's not his fault." The woman said, sounding disappointed in her husband "It's not his fault that happened yet you act like it is."

"Hanami, if you really understood-!"

"I'm going to help Koni." The woman said as she turned and walked down the opposite path.

"An' leave me here?!"

"You NEED to get over it, Mister!" the woman turned back, the big man hit with her piercing glint "You NEED to stay here and HELP!"

As big and as powerful as Dango was, her beloved wife still had an edge over him, something that his own gentleman demeanor would never allow him to cross. He LOATHED the idea of being left along with Gashi in the middle of the woods but his feet remained planted on the ground, the fox-like candy woman just daring him to move so she could strike back.

"By the time you get back…." She hissed, her brow arching "I expect to see ALL of your packs full. Do you understand?"

Dango swallowed the massive lump in the back of his throat, Sakura and Minty seeing his eyes darken.

" _He…he looks like a tanuki!"_ The green girl thought to herself.

"Yes, deah." The man said, nostrils flaring as he took in another breath "I shall not disappoint ya, love."

Hanami gracefully walked away, her exit bringing on a sense of DOOM the moment she disappeared.

Brother-in-law vs brother-in-law.

Cousin vs cousin.

 **IT WAS ON NOW!**

"So….should we continue?" asked Gashi, gritting his teeth.

"Yes. Yes, we shall." Grunted Dango, narrowing his eyes.

Even the children presented themselves the same way towards each other, Minty shuffling her pack against her back.

"So Princess. Ya think ya can handle this?"

"Better than you, Brickhouse."

Why did Hanami have to leave?

It didn't take long for the candy woman to find her sister, the younger of the siblings having gathered more than her share of chestnuts for the day.

"Sis?" Koni blinked as she watched her older sister coming up the path "What-? Why are you back so EARLY?"

"I'm sorry, Koni. But I had to leave them." Hanami said, kicking her shoes off rather ungracefully as she sat on the side of the in.

"Wait, LEAVE THEM? Ya didn't kill 'em did ya?!"

"Koni, I'm sorry for this…" the older woman sighed "I….I had no plans of intruding your day like this nor did I mean to bring so much drama."

"Oh, drama is fine!" the younger of the two laughed, bringing Sticky and Torvald with her as the three sat down next to their aunt "We're used to so much drama here, aren't we girls?"

"Yup!" said Torvald, grinning from ear to ear "I write down _**AAAAALL**_ the things that happen here in my books!"

"Do you now?" Hanami asked, her sister pulling her over.

" _She has an entire closet of journals! It's like she keeps tabs on everyone an' EVERYTHING that comes by!"_

" _Oh, does she?"_

"Hold on!" the girl said as she bounded off "Lemme get one!"

Torvald disappeared into the inn for a moment only to come back with a brightly colored and decorated notebook in her hand.

"I made this one-!" she began "When mama told us that she wanted ya to visit more often!"

Hanami gave her sister a cheeky grin "Oh, REAAAALY?"

" _ **TORVALD."**_

The girl sat between everyone and flipped open the books, everyone hit with a massive cloud of glitter and sweet smelling stickers.

"See, I made plans on how to make your room an' where we could all go!" the girl began "This would have been so fun together an' I kinda wish I would have known so we cudda done this when ya got here-!"

"Um…this is….this is CUTE, Torvald." Hanami said, laughing nervously once she saw the drawings that her niece had made of her and her husband "Uh. H-How did you know about the whole fox thing with me?"

Torvald looked at her aunt with massive eyes, Hanami seeing no end to them.

" _I just_ _ **KNOOOOOOOOOOW.**_ _"_

"WHOAH-KAY! DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAN SHOW ME, DEAR?!"

"Can I show Auntie Hanami my plans for how the Kingdom is gonna look in one hundred years?!"

" **NO."**

"Aw, but mamaaaaaaaaa-!"

"Sticky, why don't you take your sister to the TV room? Play that game Mrs. Hanabi sent us?"

"Okay!" Sticky said happily as she jumped up "I wanna play the one with the bug catcher!"

"Nu-uh! That's all ya ever pick, Stix!"

The children ran off, their voices fading once they had finally retreated to the room. Koni sighed but there was something bright and friendly to her voice.

"Never thought this would happen, sis. Never thought that after everything we went through….THREE? Three of 'em? Why me?"

"Because you're three kinds of trouble." The older woman chuckled to herself "Anyone could tell you that."

Hanami may have smiled…but the way her sister remained silent sent a signal to her. Older Sister Senses were tingling, the woman putting a hand on Koni's shoulder.

"Sis?"

Koni nervously reached for a chestnut, skillful enough on how to handle it without getting pricked by the sharp burs around it.

"I know it's been a while since I've talked to you…." she said, carefully peeling back the burs of her chestnut "I know we live like a WORLD away but that's no excuse for droppin' ya like that."

"Oh, we're both busy!" Hanami quickly responded, not wanting to leave her sister in worry "I've been busy too! You won't believe how much business has EXPLODED since the Queen made ME her official designer and Dango? Heh, he always has SOME stupid role to fill!"

"An' I'm sure ya make certain he's on top of it?"

"Yup!"

Koni stopped again, rolling the freshly peeled nut between her fingers.

"There's something wrong." Hanami said "Don't even try to hide it, sis. I know there is…."

The younger candy woman looked at the elder, face showing that there was something sour happening in the inn.

"Konipetio….tell me. Tell me now."

"I never thought this was gonna happen…" Koni laughed "I never thought that someone like me would end up here…."

"And?"

"I never thought I would fall in love with this place, that's what. I know I whined so much about not wantin' to leave home an' how much I hated Sugar Rush but….but right now? I could never leave. I don't want to."

"So what's wrong? Why the sad act?"

"Could ya see it?" Koni asked "Could ya see it in Gashi's eyes?"

"Could I see what?"

"He's is really good at hiding it" the younger woman smiled "The moment ya guys came in, he hid it so well but that's always been his thing. He's always so happy…but…."

Koni brushed her pastel bangs out of her eyes, clutching the chestnut with her other hand.

"Sis? We might lose this place."

"What?!" gasped the elder sister "Lose it?! WHY?!"

"We're just not makin' tha money we've used ta." The woman smiled "Not since they put up that big fancy place near tha beach? This place seems like old hat now."

Hanami felt her stomach twist all because she was very aware of that 'big fancy place near the beach'; the very place she and her family were trying to go before their sudden accident.

"Don't even to be mum 'bout it, Nami. I know that's where ya were goin'."

Sisterly intuition had struck again!

"There's no need to feel bad 'bout it though. I mean, I'd like to visit the place myself and I know with someone of your status!"

"That doesn't matter! That doesn't matter at all!" Hanami rushed in "It doesn't matter whatever crust you're cut from-! I just-!"

"Sis, I told ya it's okay!"

Unknown to the two women two pairs of eyes as well as EARS had taken audience to the conversation, two candy children tucked behind the wall as they listened to what their mother and aunt had to say.

" _We're losin' money?"_ meeped Sticky nervously.

" _We….we might lose our home?"_ whimpered Torvald.

"Sometimes we get lucky, but we've hit a nose-dive since Gashi's parents died." Koni continued "I think…I think that was a really big blow for him when it happened."

"O-Oh…" Hanami said, knowing so few details on the events "Y-Yes, I do remember you mentioning that happening."

"I mean, his entire family was raised here from his great-great grandfather all the way down to the girls. He's had to watch so many people he loved pass on here and with both his mother and father goin' so quickly together, I think it really hurt him."

"And the girls?"

"Minty…Minty took it the hardest." Koni sighed "She just hasn't been the same since grandfather died. I think he was the only one that really understood her. I mean, she's so tough and rough compared to Sticky and Tori. Tori has me, Gashi is always with Sticky but….but after Tai passed on….she's just felt alone and she's been so angry…."

Sticky and Torvald ducked behind the corner once more, their mother's words true. It hurt them so much to be reminded of the family members that had passed on but to hear that in combination with the thought of losing the only home they had?

What could they do?

"Remember Mr. Flubbutters?"

"You mean Reese?" Hanami said "Who could forget."

"He said he- No, rather the Von Schweetz wanted the property."

"A-And? What plans did they have for it?"

"To build another hotel like they did on the beach."

"Wait, what was th-?!"

"Reese came here and told us the plans, how the King n' Queen would reimburse us. Pay for a nice place to retire in the city. Said they'd 'keep to the natural traditions of the area but give it the modern update' that it needed."

"That sounds like a load of horehound."

Koni smirked at her sister "Ya know it was. That's why Gashi said NO but….but maybe we have no choice. I mean, if things really get worse than this we may hafta take that Von Schweetz' offer on the whole bet. I mean, if they even still wanna buy."

"Why didn't you just ask?" asked Hanami.

"Ask? Ask for what?"

"For help. If you needed it-"

"I don't think Gashi would have taken it." Koni said as she shook her head "He can be as stubborn as Dango when it comes to family pride plus- Plus I don't think he wanted to be seen as WEAKER compared to your husband. He tries to hide it but he's always felt a little guilty that he hasn't been able to hold up to a standard that you and your family has."

"Why-? Why would he even try to do that? You love him and I think he's a fine and wonderful person, especially with the way he dotes and cares for you and the girls! Why would he EVER think that there was any need to throw himself into such a fit?"

"Because of our families…" Koni sniffed arrogantly "He is very aware of my background an' to have a brother-in-law who's face is plastered everywhere? He goes about everyday trying to ensure we're taken care of!"

"That's very noble of him. And from what you've told me and from what I've seen, he's a hard worker! So caring!" said the older sister "Who would make him worry so much about all of this."

"Sorry to say it sis, but your hubby did." Koni snorted in laughter "Gashi has always felt bad for not giving US the lifestyle that Dango has given you and Sakura. An' it's not like I blame tha big guy!"

"Why?"

"Because I know what Dango EXPECTS from life!" Koni laughed "The big doof! Used to all that fancy stuff, the lavish lifestyle! He still was on a level I could only imagine so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the big raccoon face is-!"

"Sis?"

"Ah-huh?"

"There….there are a few things you need to know….."

* * *

Back with the fathers and daughters the search for the chestnuts were going even slower as Dango and Gashi remained silent, Minty and Sakura keeping their lips zipped. Dango reached for another chestnut, collecting it and throwing it in his basket.

"Did ya make sure ta check it this time?" asked Gashi.

"Yes, Gashi. I DID." Dango retorted, glowering.

The smaller man cocked his head to the side, knowing the other was not giving him any sort of attention "Are ya certain or are ya just sayin' that?"

Dango growled "Yes, I DID, GASHI! Now get off mah back, OKAY!?"

"I wouldn't be on your back like this if ya just LISTENED instead of tryin' ta fight with me!" the other father shot back.

"YOU'RE tha one who's fightin'! I'm just tryin' ta do mah job!"

"Oh, a JOB?! As if you've had a real one in your life!"

The fathers continued their bickering, not realizing that their daughters had wandered off passed the appointed path and down the hilly groves of the woods.

"I don't get it Sakura."

"What don't you get?" answered the green-tea girl, not at all wanting to hear the voice of her cousin.

"How can ya like worms an' ants an' beetles but ya hates SPIDERS? It doesn't make sense." The mint girl asked, wriggling her fingers "Oooooh! Ya afraid their gonna get in that ol' lady bun on your head?"

Sakura scowled, subconsciously reaching for her hair "I-It's not an ol' lady bun!"

"My mom wears somethin' like it an' she old!"

"Well, I like it!" the other girl shot back "An-An' sides, other bugs are okay! Spiders aren't!"

"Maaaan, I'm glad ya didn't go with Stix then! You'd be cryin' all day because she can spy a spider from all tha way from tha other side of tha kingdom!" Minty laughed loudly "Maybe ones that like ol' lady buns!"

"Stop actin' as if you're not afraid of anythin' Minty Zaki!"

Minty continued to laughed, enjoying seeing her cousin fume and pout "I'm not scared of ANYTHIN', lil Princess! 'Specially not BUGS or whatever!"

"Ooooh, this is why I hate visiting you!"

Minty turned around quickly, an angry look about her "What was that?"

"I get it Minty! I'm not as tough as you but what's the problem with that?! Or is this how ya treat EVERYONE who doesn't wanna roll around in the mud with you?!"

"W-Well, you wanna know tha reason why I hate when you come?!" Minty huffed "'Cause all mom an' dad do is worship an' PRAISE ya for bein' so sweet and perfect, a-as if that is something so special!"

Sakura didn't know what to say to her cousin, already hearing her voice shaking. Had she hurt her that much?

"Plus your dad is tha _**BAD GUY**_! He always pushes my dad around for no reason just because he thinks he's such a great movie star! Well I saw his movies an' they all stink!"

"My daddy's movies do not stink!" Sakura yelled, stunned that Minty would say such a thing about her father. She gave Minty a push, causing her to stumble back "You're stupid inn is tha place that STINKS!"

Minty could not believe that SAKURA of all people had touched her, the war rising to a head inside of her.

"No, YOU STINK!" the mint girl roared as she shoved Sakura back harder. Sakura nearly fell down but she recovered quickly, striking her cousin for a second time.

"YOU STINK!"

"YOU DO!"

"YOU-!"

The two girls gave each other a push but in doing to the ledge that they were on began to crumble. They screamed, tumbling down a small hill that went down so steep that the path they were on soon disappeared.

"AAAAAAH! MINTY!" screamed Sakura, looking up to see a thick vine above her "GRAB MY HAND!"

Minty did just that and her decent stopped. She looked down, seeing a pile of jagged rocks below her.

 _Had she crashed into that…._

"S-Sakura!"

" _Nnnngh, what?_ " the green tea girl struggled, feeling the weight of her cousin pulling her down "W-What?!"

"Swing me to the left!"

Sakura did just that, Minty finding a foothold on another path.

"Good, now let go!"

"WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY!?"

"Just let go!" Minty cried "I'll catch ya!"

Sakura wasn't too sure if she could trust her cousin but before she had another moment to think, the vine SNAPPED!

"KIYAAA-!"

"GOTCHA!"

Minty reached out and caught her cousin in her arms, the green tea girl surprised that Minty had been able to do such a thing.

"Ah….th-thanks….I-I guess."

The two girls looked up, seeing that they had fallen greatly off course from the path that led back to the inn, neither of them knowing exactly where they were.

"Oh no…." moaned Sakura "How do we get back home NOW!?"


End file.
